Rocky Mountain High
by wondertross
Summary: *Complete!*Zack leads Max and Alec to Colorado, and havoc ensues. M/A eventually
1. Default Chapter

Title: Rocky Mountain High  
  
A/N: Aaaack!! I'm being attacked by plot bunnies!! Too many ideas all running through my head at once. Okay, so this is a return of Zack story, though it's more centered on the growing Alec/Max relationship. I'm writing this because I already have the last scene written and now I just have to get there. So Zack will be hanging around some, but isn't the focus, sorry. Any insights on his character would be appreciated, since I don't really know too much about him.  
  
A/N2: So much for Switzerland, everything I'm thinking of now seems to be M/A centric. Oh, and Chapter 9 of Mind Games is up, and I should be finishing that shortly, but I just had to start this.  
  
Spoliers: This is post DDA, but before SAH, so Alec has yet to find out about how Max told Logan they were a thing. Mild reference to Mind Games, but I mean, very, very mild.  
  
Disclaimer: I can't believe we all still bother with these. Don't own em, blah.  
  
~*~  
  
"You gotta tell 'im at some point boo. You know if you don't this bitch is just gonna come back to bite yo ass." Cindy told her best friend authoritatively, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest. Her chin was struck out in that "Listen to OC, cause she knows what's up," fashion.  
  
Max raised an eyebrow and turned a little in her chair to better see the object of their discussion, Alec, flirting with a petite blonde girl. Max looked back at Cindy, resting her chin in cupped hands, virtually ignoring the mostly full beer resting between her elbows on the table. She sighed. "I know, I'm just waiting for the right time, and hoping that that right time conveniently never shows up."  
  
"Right, like that's gonna work at for ya. How's Logan?"  
  
Her hands dropped to the table, her fingers drumming on the table top and beer mug respectively. "I don't know. Haven't talked to him since the deal with the sewers and Annie."  
  
"And how's Joshua?"  
  
"Confused, angry, with himself as much as anyone. He doesn't think he should have left her. She's all he paints now. So, not good, all in all. Wish I could spend more time with him."  
  
"You can't be doin everything boo. You ain't superwo....."she paused, chuckling slightly. "Well, you ain't completely impervious anyway." Even Max had to smile a little at that.  
  
"So, what are we talking about ladies?" Alec interrupted suddenly, as was his tendency, something Max had become acutely aware of in the last few months. He poured more beer into his glass from the pitcher on the table as he turned one of the chairs around and straddled it. He took a long drink, leaning his forearms against the back of the seat. His eyes were sparkling, and the left side of his mouth quirked up in a grin.  
  
Max rolled her eyes. "None of your business."  
  
"Talking about me again huh? I can't blame you exactly. Max, Max, Max, when are you gonna learn that I'm just not into the kinky threesome thing with you and Log boy. But maybe," he tilted his head and shot Cindy a devilish smirk. Max smacked him upside the head.  
  
Cindy sighed. "Forget it. It'll never happen. And if it did, you wouldn't be doin any more than lookin."  
  
"That could work too." he ducked this time, narrowly avoiding being struck again by Max's open palm. "What?"  
  
Max decided on another tack. "You strike out with the token blonde? I haven't seen you go home with anyone in a couple weeks. You must be losing your touch."  
  
"Not a chance." Alec whipped a napkin from the pocket of his jacket. "Got her number right here." Max just groaned.  
  
"Uh oh," Cindy piped up. "here comes yo boy, and he looks none to pleased." Max quelled the now automatic response of 'Alec is not my boy,' when she realized OC was talking about Logan. Of course, he wasn't her boy either, not now anyway. Logan was making his way through the crowd, heading straight for their table. Max immediately felt her heart rate jump. Logan and Alec together at the same time, neither knowing exactly what was going on. This was not good. She looked pleadingly over at OC.  
  
The pretty black girl just shrugged. "What do you want me to do?" Alec glanced between her and Max quizzically, but kept his mouth shut. "Boo, sometimes there ain't no time but the here and now."  
  
"Huh?" The male X5 managed.  
  
"Never mind," the girls responded together.  
  
Alec held up his hands defensively and went back to his beer, trying his best to ignore Logan's approach. It wasn't that he didn't like the guy, or respect him at least, but whenever he was around and then wasn't Max would go into a funk. And Max in a funk tended to gripe on Alec even more than usual. Not to mention that the pair, with their heartfelt stares, awkward silences, and, in his opinion at least, ridiculous off-again-on-again relationship became a little much to swallow after a while.  
  
Logan finally reached the trio, and Cindy bade a swift farewell. "Hey Logan. I was just leavin. Original Cindy just spotted a sweet little chica on the floor. I'll leave you and yours to yo business. I get the feeling you got a lot to talk about." If looks could kill then OC would ahve been a goner, but thankfully all Max's stare did was hasten her retreat.  
  
"Hey Max," Logan's low, soothing voice sounded even more wistful than usual that night. Max smiled softly and ducked her head. This was definitely not good. Her decidedly nosy and curious ex was sitting on one side of her, and her new, yet to know about the relationship, boyfriend was on the other.  
  
"Hey Logan," Alec said cheerily. "Drink?"  
  
"Alec," Logan's tone toward the other transgenic was clipped and hard, teetering on the brink of open animosity. Alec was mildly surprised. He knew what the computer hacker thought of him, but the greeting was cold, even for him. "And no thanks." Figured, the man never could relax.  
  
Logan sat stiffly, and he ran his fingers through his hair nervously. Then he started plucking at his shirt. Alec's eyes darted between the two of them, narrowing slightly. Something was definitely up, but he sensed it wasn't exactly an open topic for discussion. "Well uh, I think I'll go leave you two to......whatever."  
  
He went to stand, but Logan stopped him. "No, wait Alec. You should hear this too."  
  
Max looked up then, brushing a long strand of dark hair out of her eyes. "What's up? White's not causing more trouble is he? That guy just can't take a hint, can he? What is it this time, nomalies, X series, what?"  
  
"It's not White," Logan told them, shaking his head. "It's about Zack."  
  
Almost immediately any and all awkwardness fled Max's visage. Her eyes turned deadly serious. "What about Zack?" she demanded. "Is he okay? Did someone figure out.....you know?"  
  
"No, no one figured it out. And he's fine, at least as far as we know."  
  
"What do you mean, as far as you know?" Alec leaned forward, his interest piqued.  
  
"He's gone, left, disappeared. Didn't take any of his stuff. I just got the call. They figured we'd want as much warning as possible."  
  
"That's nice of them, considering how not right in the head brother Zack was last time he came for a visit," Alec grunted.  
  
Max stood abruptly, her chair clattering to the floor. "Come on Logan, we've got to get you out of here. Go with Alec. Take the car and head for Joshua's. You should be able to hide out there." She saw Alec about to argue. He wasn't made to run and hide, to lay low during a fight. "Please Alec? Just do this." She squeezed his arm and he nodded reluctantly.  
  
The three of them left the club together, pausing outside the main entrance to finalize plans. Neither Logan nor Alec was far too thrilled about Max being alone with a possibly irrational Zack on the loose. Max went over to her bike, Alec following on her heels. "Look, I'll give you a call once I figure out what's what. Just do me a favor, and keep yourself out of trouble for once."  
  
Alec grabbed her arm before she could ride off. "OH come on, when am I ever in trouble?" Max only rolled her eyes in response. "Okay, so there were a couple of times," he joked. "But in all seriousness Max, don't go after him alone."  
  
"If Zack is in Seattle, I won't have to go looking for him. He'll find me. Don't worry, I'll be all right."  
  
"Hey, I thought that was my line," he grinned. "I'll expect to hear from you in a few hours. You don't check in Max, and I make no promises."  
  
Logan watched the scene from his station beside his car, feeling a small bubble of jealousy rise in his stomach. He wanted to just push Alec aside and let him be the one giving Max grief over being careful. "Stop it,' he chided himself. 'You want Max to be happy. Don't you?' He continued to watch them, feeling awkward, like the third wheel. They weren't even bickering at each other, which was unusual. 'God, but why did it have to be Alec? Anyone but him. Alec was just so......Alec, and so entirely not me.'  
  
Logan shook his head, clearing his head of the mutinous thoughts as Max drove off and Alec returned. Yes, he DID want Max to be happy. And if her being happy meant being with Alec, well then, so be it. "We ready?" Alec nodded mutely.  
  
The two men piled into Logan's car and headed off in the opposite direction Max had taken on the Ninja. They drove along the nearly deserted streets in uncomfortable silence for a long while. Logan kept his eyes firmly on the road ahead, knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. Alec stared blandly out the window, wishing with every passing block, that he was anywhere but where he was.  
  
Logan was the one who finally broke the stalemate. "You think....you think she'll be okay? Think she can handle Zack?"  
  
"I think Max can handle just about anything. She knows what she's doing."  
  
Logan sighed and readjusted his grip on the wheel. "Take care of her, okay?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Take care of her," Logan repeated.  
  
"Uh, no offense Log, but Max is just about the last person I would attempt to uh 'take care of.'" Alec rolled his eyes. Okay, he knew Logan was protective, but this was ridiculous. Max was a soldier after all, not some helpless damsel in distress. And besides, if he even attempted to do what Logan was asking, he was more likely to get his ass kicked than get a thank you.  
  
"So what then?" Logan felt his temper flare. How could he be so callous about the woman he's supposed to be dating? "Don't you care at all? Does she mean nothing to you?"  
  
Alec squirmed a little. "Of course I care. Max is good people. I don't know. I just, personally, don't see the need for a 24/7 special watch on her. She does know how to take care of herself you know?"  
  
"That's not the point! I never gave up on us, never gave up on her, but I know she needs to be happy. I just want to make sure that someone has her back. And I want to know if that's you. Get my point?" He glanced over at the transgenic beside him.  
  
"No, not really. I mean really, I think you have officially gone off the deep end here. Look, I'm just doing what she asked. I can't exactly ahve her back and look after you at the same time, now can I?" Logan turned his head and opened his mouth to speak again, but Alec interrupted before he could get the words out. "Logan! Watch out!"  
  
His head snapped back to the front, sighting in on the hapless hooded soul that had just stepped in front of the car. Logan slammed his foot to the brakes, but he already knew it was too late. Alec reached across the seats and grabbed the steering wheel, cranking it to the right. The vehicle tires screeched. The right side of Logan's bumper struck a brick wall and the car jolted to a sudden halt. Logan's hands were shaking.  
  
Alec gingerly touched his throbbing forehead. When the car had hit, his head had inadvertently struck the dashboard. That was going to leave a mark. He straightened up and shook his head. "You all right?"  
  
"I'm fine, I think." Logan answered.  
  
Alec's eyes moved to the rear view mirror, half expecting to see a lump of human road kill lain out behind them. There was nothing there. He unbuckled his seatbelt, his senses suddenly on overdrive. The hair at the back of his neck stood on end. He opened the passenger side door and scrambled out, moving quickly to the driver's window. Logan lowered it and peered at him questioningly.  
  
"Doe sit still run?" The computer hacker nodded. "Good. Drive away now, quickly. And don't stop for anything, got it? I'll meet you at dog boy's." Logan nodded, for once deferring to Alec. He backed up the car and drove away, with a crumpled in bumper and minus a hubcap, but basically intact.  
  
He tread lightly out into the middle of the street. The illumination form two street lamps offered little comfort. He kept his fists up, his eyes darting to and from every dark crevice the street section offered. "Where are you?"  
  
"Right here." The older blond transgenic moved out of the shadows behind him. Alec spun to face him.  
  
"I wouldn't even bother going after Logan Zack. It's just not worth it. Max knows you're here, and we both know she'd fight to the death for him."  
  
"well then it's a good thing I didn't come here looking for Logan," Zack told him. Alec was confused and must have looked it, because Zack continued. "I didn't come for Logan, I came for you."  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Well? Like it, hate it? Please review it. I have a few other little twists and turns in mind, but that, sigh, may not happen unless I see interest. (I'd probably write it anyway, I just feel like warning you, lol. 


	2. 2

Rocky 2: (suddenly I'm picturing Stalone, go figure.)  
  
A/N: Okay, so as last we left Zack adn Alec were facing off, which just has so many wonderful possibilities. Warning though, the M/A progression in this story is going to be slow, because somehow I just can't see Max dropping Logan without agonizing over-analyzing it, but I'll be dropping hints throughout, don't worry.  
  
A/N2: Again, still need insights into Zack. Any good Zack centric sites I could go to brush up or whatever? Also, just as a random little note, it's bad thing when you start speaking in fanfic-ese to people who don't know you write fanfic. (canon, slash, drabble, fic etc.)  
  
Disclaimer: Oh bite me already, they cancelled the show, what does it matter?  
  
~*~  
  
"Well then it's a good thing I didn't come here for Logan. I came here for you."  
  
The muscles in Alec's jaw twitched as he suppressed a small grin. "Awww, I feel so special. So what exactly do I owe this honor Brother Zack?"  
  
The elder, blonde transgenic's eyes narrowed and a low rumble escaped his lips. "You know exactly what you did. And you will pay for it. Nobody threatens me and mine."  
  
Alec's mind was spinning. "For the love of…..what is with everybody and being so damned cryptic today!? Just say what you mean already. Make my life so much easier."  
  
"How about instead of telling you what I mean, I just show you? Make my life a little more entertaining."  
  
Alec dropped his hands slightly. He pursed his lips together and assumed a very 'I'm bored' expression on his face. "Are you gonna talk all day long, or are we gonna lay this bitch down?"  
  
Alec barely had time to move as Zack leapt into the air. For a moment Alec lost him in the glare of a streetlight, and when he finally managed to refocus the other transgenic was nearly on top of him. Alec jumped away awkwardly, stumbling backward. He rolled his neck, cracking it. "Well okay then. Just making sure you were ready."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Good idea." Zack came again, lashing out with his right foot. Alec caught it, grasping Zack's ankle between his palms and twisted it. Zack rolled with the motion, jumping and spinning, his left foot connecting solidly to Alec's ribs. Zack pushed himself off the ground, but Alec had already jumping, flipping head over heels to land behind Zack. Max's brother grunted when Alec's boot struck him in the lower back.  
  
Alec rushed forward with a solid punch that caught Zack underneath the ribs. Alec moved in again, but Zack stopped the onslaught, flipping the slightly smaller man over his back. He meant to send Alec face first into the pavement. Alec reached out with both arms, slapping the ground with his palms and tucking his chin to his chest as he somersaulted on the road.  
  
Slowly, their actions became less planned, more wild. They stopped watching the other's movements as their tempers began to control their actions. Soon, they were locked up, hand on hand, wrestling. Neither X-5 had any real advantage over the other in the game of pure strength. Such as it was, neither was likely to gain the upper hand.  
  
The sound of screeching rubber and loose dirt and stone striking a wall finally broke them apart. Max, still straddled atop her Ninja, one foot on the clutch had arrived. She cut the engine and removed her sunglasses, dark eyes flinty. "What the hell do you two idiots think you're doing? People are running scared around here as it is already. We do not need to be adding fuel to the transgenic fire by brawling in the streets!" she called out as she stalked towards them.  
  
Alec watched her come forward, not really having a valid answer. Funny, how she could look so intimidating, so proud, just walking. "Zack started it," he mumbled.  
  
"Ask Smart Alec here," Zack growled. He relinquished his grip on Alec's neck with a shove. Zack moved closer to Max. "Some of them Max," he continued, "some of them will never let it go."  
  
"Let what go?" Max wanted to hear him talk more than she wanted to hear him explain. She wasn't quite sure where Zack's head was at. But still, she doubted he would do anything to her, where the way he was acting toward Alec, she wouldn't put anything past him.  
  
"They don't see the big picture. Like him." He pointed an accusatory finger at Alec. "He'll never care about anything more than himself. He'd sell us all out if it guaranteed his safety." He turned his head to gaze angrily at Alec. "Is that what you're doing? Saving your own neck?"  
  
"I have no clue what he's talking about Max," Alec said in defense. "You need to get the men in your life a book on how to speak plain English!"  
  
Zack went on. "he's dangerous Max, to all of us. He's a killer. You'll never get that out of him. He was inside for too long. We have to stop him now, before he turns." Zack whipped around with all the speed and agility born into him, and suddenly Alec found himself staring straight into the business end of a Gloc pistol.  
  
Max's eyes shot wide open. "Zack no!" Max hit Zack in the side with her shoulder. His finger squeezed the trigger. Alec froze as the shot fired, the bullet arcing slightly too wide because of Max's interference. Max reached out an twisted the weapon from her brother's grasp and threw it into the darkness of a near alley.  
  
Zack turned on her. "No! You don't understand. I'm trying to save you! He'll hurt you." Zack scooped his baby sister up, holding her over his head before she even realized what was happening. "Stay out of this Max." Then he threw her. She sailed all the way across the street and hit the wall, rebounding into an open dumpster. The lid slammed shut behind her.  
  
Despite the situation Alec had to laugh, though he didn't get to for long. Zack came at him again. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Alec said through gritted teeth as he ducked to avoid Zack's fist. He hit the other transgenic as hard as he was able, and reverberations coursed through his hand and arm like he had struck a metal plate. Actually, considering what he knew about how Zack had been rebuilt, it wasn't totally out of the question. Alec shook his now battered fist. 'God that stings.' Zack was just smiling grimly. "Ah shit."  
  
Zack let loose a tremendous uppercut. Alec staggered backwards, blood flowing from his nose. Then he grasped Alec's neck and pushed him down as his knee connected solidly with Alec's stomach. Zack gripped onto Alec's sweatshirt and pants, lifting him like he weighed nothing and chucked him straight into a store's plate glass window.  
  
Alec reacted, bringing his right hand up to shield his head. The glass shattered into sharp fragments as he sailed through. The shards nipped and cut at his hands and face. He landed on the store's floor with a crunch. The impact of his head on the glass made him dizzy and he couldn't stand right away.  
  
Meanwhile, Max had managed to dig herself out of the piles of garbage and climb out of the dumpster. She got out just in time to see Zack throwing Alec through the window. The siren split out over the air almost immediately. She tensed at the sound, crouching low and bringing her hands up. Max's eyes immediately shot to the sky, on the lookout for hoverdrones. When she looked back, Zack was already more than halfway up the side of a building.  
  
He paused on a window ledge. "I'm right Max," he called out. "I'll prove it to you. I'll make you see. Until then, watch your back." He continued on, slipping over the rim of the building onto the rooftop. Max considered going after him briefly, but when she heard the police sirens coming she decided it was more important to get herself and Alec out of there. She hurried over to the busted window. Alec was just picking himself up off the ground. His hands were torn and bloody, and his face scratched.  
  
He squinted at Max as he stepped through his own, self made entrance. "Can we go now?" Max just nodded and headed for her bike. "Oh and by the way," Alec's nose wrinkled in distaste as he picked a banana peel off Max's jacket, "you really stink."  
  
--  
  
"Ow!" Alec yelped when he plunged his hands into the iodine bath Max had made up. The water turned a nearly ink black almost immediately. He let his hands rest in the hot water for a few moments before gingerly removing them and sitting back in the seat Max had set out in the middle of his apartment.  
  
Max rolled her eyes, setting the First Aid supplies she had gathered down on a small table. "You're such a wuss," she teased.  
  
"You're not the one who got tossed through a window," he reminded her.  
  
"True, I'm just the one that got thrown into a dumpster." She shook her head as she looked at her discarded leather jacket. "That's just never going to be the same again."  
  
"You're right, the window's better," Alec conceded. "Except for the whole glass imbedded in flesh thing."  
  
"Well hold still and we can work on that." Alec let Max take his hand into her lap. He tried not to think of it as a bad sign that Max was wielding his pair of tweezers like a steak knife. She obviously missed out on most the of the Field Medicine Training at Manticore. They lapsed into silence for a few moments as Max worked the first few slivers of glass out of his palm.  
  
Max chewed uneasily on her lower lip. It could have been a lot worse, she reminded herself. What if Alec had been a little slower? What if the car crash had killed them both? What if Zack had managed to get off the shot he'd intended? Max shook her head a little, clearing the disturbing thoughts. Alec was fine, and so was Logan. And as much as she hated to admit it to herself, she would have kicked herself for letting Zack get to Alec.  
  
Despite all his annoyances, Alec had started to grow on her. He was always there, like a mouthy shadow. She'd dragged him into plenty of hairy situations that no sane person would have willingly volunteered for. He had her back; it was something she took for granted.  
  
Max let her eyes flick up to his face once before falling back to his shredded palms. "So….uh…what was Zack talking about?" Max queried.  
  
"He's your brother. You know him better than I do." He tried to jerk his hand back as Max poked at a particularly large glass shard, but she held fast. Alec rolled his eyes. "You mind being a little more careful? I'd like to have that hand still attached in the morning."  
  
"It's not my fault Zack kicked your ass."  
  
"Okay, first of all, Zack did not kick my ass. I was just setting him up so I could make a rousing comeback.  
  
Max snorted, "Right."  
  
"And second of all, it is your fault. If not for you and your whole protect Logan spiel I never would have been there in the first place."  
  
"He would have found you anyway," Max answered softly. "No matter where you were. I just wish I knew why he was after you."  
  
"You and me both Maxie."  
  
" Just as a side note though, would you mind not doing this again?"  
  
"What, is Maxie feeling a little ill at ease?" Alec grinned triumphantly. "I knew it. You like me, ha."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"You're worried about me. Actual concern. Admit it," he went on playfully, "you'd miss me. Come on Max, say it."  
  
"You're not going to stop are you?"  
  
"I could go all night. Want to see?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "You would, I know you would."  
  
"Does almost getting killed always make you this giddy?"  
  
"It's the adrenaline," he shrugged. "What can I say?"  
  
She started wrapping his hands with gauze, avoiding having to answer his questions. Deep crimson stains appeared through the thick layers within moments. "Some of these really should be stitched," she grumbled.  
  
Alec shook his head, jutting his chin out stubbornly. "No doctors, no risk of exposure. Need I remind you of the whole CDC catastrophe? White almost got you then. Still can't believe Logan didn't call for my help," he complained huffily.  
  
"Logan did all right on his own."  
  
"That's not the point Max and you know it." Angry green sparks seemed to shoot from his eyes. "You could have been killed or captured just because he wanted to play hero."  
  
"Hey!" Max snapped. "He's been watching my back a hell of a lot longer than you have, so just lay off." She swatted him in the side with her hand, and Alec ducked his shoulder protectively, despite the weak blow. Max sighed. "Show me." Stubbornly, Alec kept his arm pinned to his side.  
  
Max grabbed his wrist and wrenched his arm upward, ignoring the pained hiss Alec emitted. There was a large tear in the gray fabric of his shirt and the area around the tear was damp and sticky with blood. "Off," she ordered.  
  
Alec grumbled something incoherently and went to take the sweatshirt off over his head. "Your bedside manner sucks ass," he complained through the veil of fabric. Max just ignored him and examined the wound critically. The gash was about four inches long and a centimeter deep between his fourth and fifth ribs. The wound oozed blood and she could see the corner of a fairly sizeable chunk of glass peeking out from behind a patch of skin. Max went in with her tweezers, but Alec batted her hand away. "Keep away from me you butcher." he snatched the tool from her grasp. "I'll just get it myself. Be less painful that way." He plucked the shard unceremoniously from his flesh and dropped it into the small bowl at Max's feet.  
  
"Okay Max, that was a really weak ploy to see me with my shirt off," Alec teased.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna blaze. Keep your eyes open Alec. Zack isn't one to leave jobs unfinished."  
  
"Wait a second, you're just going to leave?"  
  
"That was the plan, yes."  
  
"With a psychotic X5 on the loose who just happens to want my head on a stick? Who, may I remind you, also happens to be your brother? Thanks."  
  
"I figured you could handle it." She moved for the door, but Alec stepped in front of her. He leaned against the old wood, blocking the handle.  
  
"You're going after him aren't you?"  
  
"I have to talk to Logan first, but yeah, probably." She shifted from foot to foot. 'How could he know that?' "What's it to you?"  
  
"Well I'm coming with you," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "There's no way you're going after psycho boy on your own."  
  
"You're not coming."  
  
"Yes, I am."  
  
"No you're not," Max glowered. "For once in your life Alec just listen to me. I don't want you with me."  
  
"Why the hell not? I'm the one Zack just tried to slice and dice! it's not like you couldn't use the help. And it's not like you've never asked me to risk my neck before."  
  
"It's different," she insisted.  
  
"Different how? Except that this time the big bad doesn't want you, they want me."  
  
"Exactly! God damn it Alec don't you get it? I don't want to lose you!"  
  
End Chapter 2  
  
Mind Games next I swear. Is FF.net being a pain in the butt for anyone else? I can almost never get on. 


	3. 3

Chapter 3:  
A/N: Well, I'm glad you're all liking this thus far. I'm having fun with it, and the burgeoning Max/Alec relationship. Sorry this is taking me so long. Summer is finally here, a time when one is supposed to be relaxing before college, and here I am, working 12 hour days. Oh well. I'll get the chapters up as quickly as I can, promise.  
  
A/N2: Okay question, can anyone tell me the title of a story, or maybe two? (I can't remember, I think they're different stories.) Story 1: Logan gets hooked on transgenic blood and becomes a kind of junkie.  
Story2: Set after FN, Zack returns and he's working for Lydecker. Max, Alec and Logan eventually have to go abroad to stop the familiars, and Max sacrifices herself before Alec can get a chance to tell her he loves her. Ring any bells? Anyone?  
  
Disclaimer: Ya'll are dense if you don't get it by now.  
  
~*~  
  
"...Because I don't want to lose you!" Max cried out in frustration. She stopped head in her tracks, eyes wide as she realized what she had just confessed. Her mind raced as she tried to think of a way to make it sound callous, but no ideas came.  
  
Alec's next argument died right there on his lips. His jaw closed with an audible snap, a flash of intense bewilderment passing over his features before the cocky, self-assured grin reappeared. "Say what?" he finally managed.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Oh come on Maxie, that was something."  
  
"Shut up Alec," she snapped. She cursed herself silently for the slip.  
  
Alec bit down on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from grinning like an idiot. He was going to enjoy this. "I knew it."  
  
"When have you ever known anything?"  
  
"Oh come on, I can see right through you. Could this possibly mean that the callous ice queen actually does have a beating heart? Aw Max, I'm touched."  
  
"Touched in the head maybe. You're such a jackass. That's not what I meant." She went to pass by him, but Alec blocked the doorway. There was no way he was letting her off this easy. he observed her, the shifting eyes, the clenching palms. He had her.  
  
"You care about me," he stated definitively. "You won't admit it, but you do. You'd miss me."  
  
Max closed her eyes. He'd caught her in her own lie. Okay, so yes, she finally had to admit that she did care, a little, maybe, kind of, in a twisted, masochistic sort of way anyway, but why should he know that? Besides, saying it aloud would give it life, and she didn't want to do that. it would make him a target, and her vulnerable. It was better if Alec could just remain neutral, helpful, but not important.  
  
It was bad enough that her other friends were being dragged into her mess, Logan, Cindy, even Sketch, but they she could at least keep out of harm's way for the most part. They never stood shoulder to shoulder with her in a fight; she wouldn't have let them. Alec she couldn't stop. he was always right there with her, ready to fight the good fight, even before the war was his. She didn't know how to respond, so she reacted the best way she knew how. She punched him.  
  
She punched him, full out and straight in the face. Alec reeled backwards, hand reaching up to clutch his nose. Blood seeped between his fingers. His foot stomped the ground once and he groaned. "What the fuck Max?!!!" She just stood there, watching him, hand resting lightly atop her cocked hip. "God, you're such a bi......"  
  
"Such a what Alec?"  
  
Green eyes flickered over her edgily. "Never mind," he mumbled. He stepped out of her way and plopped down on his couch. "Fine then, go." Max smiled. "Run away, like you always do." Max stopped, her hand falling away from the door handle. He got her, again.  
  
Grumbling incoherently she stomped over into his kitchen and grabbed a roll of paper towels, tossing them in his lap. Keeping one eyes trained on her, Alec began to clean off his face. Max sat heavily next to him with a sigh. "I don't want to lose you," she said again. "Okay, you got me, I'll admit it. I've lost so much, Tinga, Ben, Logan......"  
  
"Logan's not really gone you know."  
  
"May as well be. So you know what? Fucked up as this is, you may very well be the most stable thing in my life right now. I need you around Alec, to annoy the hell out of me if nothing else."  
  
"I think I can manage that."  
  
Max stood and ambled toward the door. "Oh," she shot back over her shoulder, "that I KNOW you can do. But don't you think for a minute this little heart to heart changes anything. You're still not coming with me." She was gone before Alec could say anything.  
  
--  
  
Max descended the stairs of her building quickly the next morning. It was early, and everything lay still and dormant in the city. She hopped down the last three stairs, readjusting her pack and fidgeting with her gloves.  
  
Actually, if truth were told she had actually not gone to sleep at all the night before. After leaving Alec she went to Joshua's to retrieve Logan. It had been after two when she had finally given the hacker the all clear to return to his apartment. Logan had been friendly but, distant, an effect she had been both craving and dreading. He provided her with directions to the farm where he'd placed Zack, and told her that he would call the people in the morning to warn them of her arrival.  
  
After that she'd gone to the space needle for some much needed time to herself. Her thoughts had wandered as she stared out above the city, the breeze lifting the hair off her neck and sending a chill down her spine. She reflected on her relationship with Logan, thought about what made Zack suddenly violent towards Alec. And she thought about Alec. Maybe there were times she didn't give him the credit he deserved.  
  
Max had returned to her place as it neared four, and immediately began to pack for a trip out of the city. OC had woken up, groggy and concerned. Once Max assured her that she would be cautious, and of the fact that she would indeed return later that day, OC had returned to her room, muttering a "Luv ya boo, later."  
  
Max's watch said it was close to five, so she didn't immediately see the person lurking in the shadows where she occasionally stored her bike. "What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded. "What did I tell you?"  
  
"Good morning to you too Max, glad to see you're in such a better mood."  
  
"Shove it Alec, and tell me what I said last night didn't get through that thick skull of yours."  
  
"Oh no, I heard you," he nodded.  
  
"So then what are you doing here?"  
  
"You said you needed me around to annoy you if nothing else."  
  
"Yeah, and...."  
  
He grinned, holding up his hands. "So tell me this doesn't annoy you." Max opened her mouth to bicker, but she kept getting stuck on the words. Finally she sighed and just shrugged. It was really hard to argue with that kind of logic.  
  
--  
  
"This place," Alec said disdainfully as he kicked aside a half eaten bag of potato chips, "is a dump. You know, Zack never struck me as the messy sort of guy." he cocked his head to the left, eyebrows shooting into his hairline. "The homicidal type maybe. The stick up his ass type definitely, but not a slob."  
  
Max gingerly stepped over what she could only guess was a shirt, and tossed a pillow back onto the beat up upholstered couch. "Well maybe that's because Zack isn't a slob."  
  
Alec pursed his lips, eyes darting from left to right. "I don't even want to know the type of squalor you and OC live in if you consider this clean."  
  
"I'm not saying it's clean dumbass."  
  
"So I'm up to dumbass now? Before it was just asshole. See, we're making progress."  
  
Max rolled her eyes and kept talking. "What I'm saying is that Zack didn't make this mess. The people that own this property, they told Logan that they had gone into town a few nights back. It was late, and when they came out the next morning the apartment was like this and Zack was gone. He didn't pack anything, didn't leave a note, just vanished."  
  
"That's it? Nothing else?"  
  
She shrugged. "That's it. They said we could look around all we like, see if there's anything that may lead us to Zack."  
  
"well, I don't think we're going to find anything of value or personal interest amidst the remnants of his garbage can, so why don't we try someplace else, like his room maybe."  
  
The two transgenics moved into one of the two smaller rooms beyond the kitchen/living area. Max kicked aside the mattress of the full sized bed so she and Alec could get in the door. Zack's room, if possible, was actually in even more disarray than the living room. Clothes had been torn out from the closets, the sheets ripped from the bed and strewn about the floor. A desk with a broken leg was perched precariously in one corner.  
  
Max began pulling out and rifling the desk drawers, while Alec searched the rest of the room. He stopped for a moment in from of a large hole in one wall. "What do you think Max, fight?"  
  
"Possible," she said absently, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "Actually better than possible the more I think about it. I suppose being in a fight could account for his state of mind last night, not that I understand why he'd make you the center of his aggression. You didn't do anything to him did you, Alec?" His withering glare made her hold up her hands in mock defense. "Didn't think so, just asking."  
  
She turned back to the drawers and Alec set about picking things up off the floor. There wasn't much else for him to do, considering he'd already checked under the bed and in the closet. A small corner of paper stuck out amongst the ruins, mostly buried under the collapsed bed frame. Alec wedged his fingers beneath the bed and hefted it up off the floor so that he could retrieve the paper.  
  
He turned it over in his hand. There, in grainy black and white, was half of a picture. The girl in the photo seemed oblivious, her back to the camera, so he surmised it was taken without her prior consent or knowledge. The area in which she was standing was rocky and bare. She was dressed casually, in jeans and boots and a work shirt tied off and exposing her mid section. Light hair lifted off her shoulder.  
  
Alec squinted, the clue he might have discovered even hard for his superior transgenic eyes to see. "Hey Max, c'mere I think I found something."  
  
Max trudged over. "What?" She peered over his shoulder at the ripped photo.  
  
He gestured with his finger to the barely visible traces of black lines on the girl's neck. "Does that look like a barcode to you?"   
  
--  
  
Max paced Logan's apartment fretfully later that night, as the hacker scanned and uploaded the picture Alec had found into his computer. Alec sat, dozing on the couch, his head lolled back and mouth hanging loosely open. The look Logan had shot him when he came in was anything but pleasant, but luckily Alec had missed it in route to Logan's well stocked refrigerator.   
  
Logan stepped into his living room, one hand passing over his face. He really needed more sleep. Living on Max's time table always meant little. "Well...," he started.  
  
"Well what?" Alerted by Max's insistent, strident tone, Alec woke and made his way over.  
  
"Let me finish and I might actually tell you." Max bit down on her lower lip to stop herself from retorting. "Unfortunately, there wasn't enough of her barcode exposed for me to be able to get a positive ID on her."  
  
Alec nudged Max with his elbow. "Satisfied Maxie? We tried. We failed. Can we go home now?" She shot him a dirty look.  
  
Logan grinned and held up one finger. "But."  
  
Alec's chin dropped to his chest, his head wagging side to side. "But. Why is there always a but?"  
  
Max merely rolled her eyes and followed Logan to his computers. Alec, for all his complaining was only a few steps behind. Max sat in the chair in front of the monitor. "So what am I looking for exactly?"  
  
Logan drew the keyboard closer to himself and began to type. Suddenly, one section of the picture was enlarged. "You can't even see the girl now though," Max protested.  
  
"It's blurry." Alec stated bluntly.  
  
"I'm getting to that." A few more keystrokes and the pixels condensed, leaving a much clearer image. Logan tapped the screen, grinning widely, obviously impressed with himself. The enhanced section of photo was of a dark wood sign. "See that? Read the name."  
  
"The Circle K? What the heck is the Circle K?"  
  
"I checked it out on the computer. The Circle K is a summer operating Dude ranch on the Western slope of the Colorado Rockies. They let tourists and guests have that real 'Old West' experience. They learn to ride horses and do ranch work, including driving cattle to and from pasture. In the winter it runs on skeleton staff from October until May."  
  
Max glanced over her shoulder at Alec. "Guess I'm going to Colorado."  
  
"Oh come on. What kind of self respecting Manticore trainee would wind up in the back country of the Rocky Mountains, just to play along with some half assed game of cowboy?"  
  
Max knew of only one that Zack would be so eager to find. He'd go for his sister, his brethren. A slow smile appeared on her lips, growing till it reached her eyes. "Jondy."  
  
End Chapter 3  
  
Short I realize, but I'm strapped for time right now. I do hope this explains the origin of the title. Like I said, this really is more Alec/Max centric, though Zack and Jondy will both make their appearances. Do feel free to tell me what you think, just by pressing that little purple button. 


	4. 4

Chapter 4:  
Author's Note: I'm now at college, so I'm not sure exactly when I'll be able to update, but I'll attempt not to take too long.  
Disclaimer: Not mine, blah blah woof woof.  
  
~*~  
  
"Alec." Max said, kneeled down at the end of Alec's bed. The other transgenic didn't respond. Max patted the bed firmly. "Alec," she said a little more loudly.  
  
A mild groan came from the general direction of Alec's head. "Alec," she called insistently, a stern set coming to her mouth. "hey Smart Alec!" She moved forward and shoved him roughly.  
  
"Go way," came the muffled reply. Alec swatted at her with one hand, twisting up even further in his sheets. He turned away from Max, digging his face into his pillow.  
  
"Oh give me a break," Max grumbled. She stalked into Alec's kitchen, hunting around the cabinets for anything she might use against him. Her eyes came to rest on the empty pitcher sitting next to the cluttered sink. A devilish grin appeared on her face.  
  
She went back into the bedroom. "Alec." Her tone was light and friendly. The figure beneath the covers didn't stir. "Okay then." She shrugged and tossed the contents of the pitcher onto the bed.  
  
"Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!" Alec leapt straight into the air, eyes wide and wild. He half fell, half jumped from his bed. "What the fuck!!!???" Beads of icy water rolled down from his hair into his eyes. His shoulders were hunched over, hands clasped by his sides. He glared daggers at the girl at the other end of his room. "Max!!!!"  
  
"What?" she asked innocently.  
  
"What the hell is wrong with you, you sadistic freak?"  
  
She shrugged. "You wouldn't get up. I'm assuming you're coming with me, right?"  
  
"Well yeah but…." He glanced over his shoulder. "It's four in the morning? I only got home four hours ago. Did you even go home?"  
  
"I went, I packed, I came here. It's a long drive to Colorado. Come on, get ready."  
  
Alec ran his hand through his damp hair and held out the other. "Fine. Pass me the towel." Max rolled it into a little ball and chucked it, the fabric clinging to his damp chest. "T-shirt on the dresser." That hit him square in the face. Alec shot Max a withering glare she pretended not to notice.  
  
Twenty minutes later the two transgenics were descending the stairs from Alec's apartment. "Shouldn't we head for the other side of my building?" Alec questioned. "My car isn't parked on this side."  
  
"We're not taking your car," she stated simply.  
  
"So what? We're just going to double it all the way on your bike?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
She heard him growl in annoyance, knowing just how much he hated being left in the dark. Max followed a few steps behind Alec, only her catlike reflexes keeping her from running into his back when he stopped dead. Alec glanced back at her over his shoulder. "Did you hit me over the head?"  
  
She stifled a chuckle. "No. Why?"  
  
"Well, I see your bike. And I see another one just like it."  
  
"Yep."  
  
Alec grinned wildly. He trotted over to the bike almost identical to Max's own Ninja, but for the fact that the one he was gawking at was a deep midnight blue. "Aww Maxie your bike had a spawn," he teased. "But seriously, mine?"  
  
"Yours." She shrugged. "The dealer I heisted it from really didn't deserve it. And besides, as you said, it's a long drive to Colorado. I really don't need to spend that much time in your car or hear you bitching about driving my baby." Alec glanced up from inspecting the bike's engine only long enough to roll his eyes. "You ready?"  
  
Alec secured his pack to the back of the bike. He straddled the machine and started the engine, revving it until she was certain he had woken most of the neighborhood. "Never more. But you know what Max?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"This machine is a newer model than yours. Now I'm not just gonna beat you, I'm gonna dust your ass." With a sloppy half salute he kicked the bike into gear and tore out of the lot, leaving a streak of rubber behind.  
  
"hey!" Max shouted indignantly. She jumped onto her bike and streaked after him, until they were just two little red lights in the night.  
  
--  
  
It took nearly three days for the two transgenics to drive into the Colorado high country. They might have made it to the ranch sooner, but they had taken a wrong turn on a back road and ended up 100 miles South of where they wanted to be. Max blamed it on Alec's crappy map reading skills. Alec blamed it on Max's crappy map.  
  
They were still arguing about it when they finally reached the ranch. They stopped the bikes just on the outside of the ranch's property. "See, we made it," Alec told her.  
  
"Yeah," Max grumbled, "no thanks to you."  
  
"I'm telling you, that map Logan gave you was outdated."  
  
"Logan's map was fine."  
  
"Look Max, I know Logan's your uh…whatever, but the man isn't infallible."  
  
Max shot him a withering glare. "Forget it. Come on, we've got to find Jondy." She started her bike again, and headed down the bumpy gravel drive. There were several buildings set on the end of the drive, smaller huts she guessed were for guests and a main lodge. The entire place seemed basically deserted, save for a beat up, rusted out Ford pickup parked in front of the lodge. Max's keen eyes swept over the grounds, watching, cautious.   
  
The large oak door swung outward, and a formidable, rough looking man walked out. He was wiping his hands on a rag, eyeing the two people on motorcycles suspiciously. "Can I help you?" He slung the rag over his shoulder, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest. "We're closed for the winter. Besides, guests need to make reservations." He didn't like the looks of the two people now walking toward him.  
  
The girl, was darkly beautiful, face hard, stern. Her demeanor was deceptively passive, with the way she sauntered toward him, her eyes dark, but simmering with something almost feral. The man beside her was much the same. Anyone at passing glance would simply have dismissed him as a pampered city boy, but Curt had seen many dangerous men in his life. The young man stood protectively behind the girl, an amused quirk coming to his lip.  
  
"We're not here for a vacation. I'm Max." She jerked her thumb at the man. "This is Alec."  
  
"And that's supposed to mean what to me?"   
  
"We're looking for my sister," Max began.  
  
"Your sister?"  
  
"Her name is Jondy? Last news I had was that she worked here. It's important that I get in touch with her very soon."  
  
The man's eyebrow shot upward. "Jondy is YOUR sister?" Somehow he couldn't picture blonde haired, blue eyed, energetic, sarcastic Jondy and this girl as sisters.  
  
Max checked herself quickly. "Half sister," she amended. "Do you know where I might reach her?"  
  
"Now, and I'm not sayin that I do or don't know where she is, but what exactly would this be regarding?"   
  
Alec stepped up closer to Max. "It's about their father. He…he's been sick now for a while," he paused putting an arm around Max's shoulders. He gave her a little squeeze, leaning closer and whispering so only she could hear. "Cry."  
  
"Their father passed away a couple days ago. Cry," he insisted to Max again.  
  
"Why?" She said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Your father just died. You should be mourning."  
  
"But he didn't just die."  
  
"I'm sorry about my wife. It's still such a shock," Alec told Curt. The man was buying it, he could tell by the way his face softened and his arms dropped.  
  
"Your wife? Alec I'm gonna kick your ass," Max whispered fiercely.  
  
"Would you please just play along? It's working."  
  
Max sighed. She let her shoulders slump forward. Lifting her arms, she wrapped them around Alec's midsection and buried her face in his shoulder. She took small satisfaction in holding him hard enough to make him shift uncomfortably. "You're so dead Alec."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."  
  
Curt felt his heart go out to these two young people. Jondy had become like family to him these last few years. Maybe in his old age he was getting soft, but he decided to tell Max and Alec what they needed to know. "I'm very sorry Mrs. er…"   
  
"Smart," Alec cut in. "Maxine and Alec Smart."  
  
"I'm very sorry Mrs. Smart, for your loss. Unfortunately, at the moment Jondy isn't here."  
  
Max lifted her head from Alec's shoulder and turned. "Do you know where she is?"  
  
Curt lifted the ball cap off his head and scratched his temple. "Yep, as a matter of fact I do. Problem is I don't have any way of reaching her. She's moving our herd up in the high country to our Spring pasturelands. There's a cabin up there. She won't be back for at least another week or two."  
  
"Oh. Is there any possible way we might be able to go to her? I know she'd want to know about…Dad."  
  
"Well now, the cabin is pretty remote, and it's a rough ride to get up there. And I'm afraid I can't leave the ranch to give ya'll a guide. And my horses, they're my business you know?"  
  
Max was stumped. She needed this man's information. "Not a problem," Alec said, surprising her. "We can pay." He took his wallet out of his jacket, pulling several large bills from the thick wad. For once, Max was speechless. Alec was actually volunteering MONEY in order to help someone other than himself.  
  
Curt whistled. Right there in Alec hands was at least a couple of thousand dollars. Money was always tight in the winters. He wasn't about to pretend he wasn't at least tempted. "Well young man, that is a right generous offer of ya. But tell me, have you city folks ever actually sat a horse before? It's a long, rough, ride up these mountains in some dangerous country. I wouldn't want the two of you to go off and get in over your heads."  
  
"We can handle ourselves," Alec told him dryly.  
  
"And we can ride," Max jumped in then. You just have to tell us where to go."  
  
Curt, after a few more minutes of gentle persuasion, was convinced to tell Max and Alec how to get to the spring meadow. "Now then, there are two ways to getting up there. The easiest is to ride around the mountain and then cut up into this ridge here," he said, pointing to the map.  
  
"What's the faster way?" Max queried.  
  
"Now, that way I wouldn't be recommending to a couple of greenhorns like yourselves. It takes riding straight up through the mountain pass. It can be dangerous, especially now. Blizzards roll in up here with very little warning. And it's avalanche season too. During the day the snowpack softens, then at night it freezes on top, get heavy. Any new snowfall and you're looking at a big slide. Naw, goin around really is the best idea."  
  
"Okay," Max answered quickly, careful not to push this man too much. "I was just wondering."  
  
"All right then, you two go pack up your things. You may be wanting to change outta those clothes too. I'll grab you enough grub for the trip from the kitchen and catch a couple of our horses." He tipped his hat and headed back inside the house. Max breathed a small sigh of relief. That actually hadn't been as difficult as she had anticipated. Largely, she grudgingly admitted to herself, because of Alec's involvement.  
  
Alec glanced at her sideways. "Why do I get the feeling that we're going the fast way?"  
  
Max grinned. "Come on Alec, why would you think that?"  
  
"Because I know you."  
  
She chuckled, smacking him lightly on the shoulder. "Live a little. It'll be…fun."  
  
--  
  
Alec eyed the large, stout gray horse warily, standing a few feet away from it's massive hooves. He glanced over at Max, who was nonchalantly adjusting her tack, patting the neck of her lanky sorrel. Alec's gray craned his head around, blinking lazily at his prospective rider. Alec shifted uneasily from foot to foot, loathe to approach any further.  
  
Max laid her hands upon the saddle, closing her eyes. After a moment or two, she smiled, tightening the cinch deftly. She gave the horse's neck a pat and untied the chestnut from the hitching rail. "You ready?" she asked.  
  
"Uh yeah, sure." Alec took a few, tentative steps toward the gray. Max turned to watch Curt coming out of the lodge. He reached up to touch the gray's nose, but quickly jerked his hand back when the horse snorted. He cursed himself silently. If Max could do it so could he. He untied the horse and led it up next to Max's chestnut. Without even so much as a glance she swung nimbly into the saddle.  
  
"Come on Alec," she growled, "Curt is watching. We're supposed to know how to ride." After another moment without Alec moving she finally looked in his direction. His lips weren't curved in their customary smirk, his eyes showed no mirth. The muscles in his cheek flexed sporadically. She guffawed. "Oh, don't tell me you're afraid of the horse."  
  
Alec glared at her. "Okay, I won't tell you." Max shoulders began to shake. "Oh shut up Max, I don't want to here a word."  
  
She held up her hands innocently. "Did I say a word? Just get on already. We can deal with your phobias later."  
  
Alec forced himself to place one foot in the stirrup. "I do not," he tried to sound convincing as his heart leapt to his throat. He gritted his teeth and grabbed the pommel. "have a phobia." He swung on with a grunt, settling less than nimbly in the seat of the large western saddle.   
  
"Right." Curt ambled over, hefting two very large sets of saddle bags.  
  
"Here ya go. That should be enough food to last you until you get to the cabin. As for water, take what you get in the canteens. When you get high enough get some of the snowpack and boil it. Be sure to keep drinking. Altitude sickness can really get ya." He strapped the bags to the back of the saddles, right behind their packs.  
  
"Thanks so much Curt. You have no idea how much we appreciate this."  
  
"A friend a Jondy's is a friend of mine. Just keep safe and I'll see ya'll in a few days." He grinned and tipped his hat.  
  
The two transgenics set of at a sedate walk. Max sat easily in the saddle, enjoying the mellow four beat gait of the horse. Alec was desperately fighting the urge to grab the saddle horn. When they were out of sight of the ranch, Max turned to him. "Feel up for a trot?"  
  
"A trot? What's a trot?"  
  
"It's faster."  
  
"Faster? Why do we need to go faster? And since when do you know how to ride a horse?"  
  
Something dark flicked across Max's features, but only for a moment. "It was a long time ago Alec. I don't want to talk about it."  
  
"Well that figures." She just shook her head and urged her horse forward. The chestnut eagerly set off at the faster pace, excited to be out on the trails for the first time in several months. Alec's gray needed no such encouragement from his rider. He jumped into the faster pace as well, leaving Alec to bounce along in the saddle. "Max!" She glanced over her shoulder and just laughed. "Hey, I'm serious."  
  
He didn't lose it until the horses hopped over a small log. He lurched forward in the saddle, nailing himself in the gut with the horn. The horses were cantering now and followed the natural turn and slope of the trail. Unfortunately Alec did not. He felt his right foot slip form the stirrup and he was propelled to the left on the side of the trail. He landed with a dull thud. He lay their quietly, cursing Max, cursing the damn horse, and cursing himself for ever having agreed to this little jaunt. Max rode back, his horse in tow and stopped so she was looking down at his still form. Alec groaned, "This is gonna be a long trip, I can tell."  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Okay, I know this wasn't the most serious of chapters, but I needed the transition for the change of scene. Please read and feel free to leave reviews, multiple reviews even, 


	5. 5

Chapter 4: Author's Note: Okay, so yeah, Alec and Max on horses was meant for a little humor. I will eventually explain why Max can ride. Glad you like it so far. College does not give me nearly enough time to write fanfiction, can you imagine? Disclaimer: God, I wish I owned them, I'd get Max and Alec together SO fast.  
  
~*~  
  
Alec grimaced and shoved he horse's shoulder a little harder than he'd meant. The horse stumbled away with a grunt, removing its offensive hoof from Alec's now tenderized foot. The horse swished its tail irritably, ears laying back against his head as he shot Alec what could only be described as a glare. "That horse hates me," he grumbled.  
  
"The horse does not hate you," Max rolled her eyes. She slung the heavy stirrup over the horn of her saddle and hefted it up off her horse's back. Underneath the animal's coat was slicked and darkened with sweat, evidence of the hours of hard riding that lay behind them.  
  
"Then how do you explain the fact that I've been dumped three times today?" Alec questioned with one eyebrow raised.  
  
Max chuckled, eyeing Alex's dirt encrusted clothing. "It's not the horse's fault you forgot to tighten the cinch when we stopped to give them water."  
  
"It doesn't help you know, you laughing at me as I'm making a complete ass out of myself." He lifted the saddle off the horse's back, jumping away as the animal swung his haunch toward Alec and raised a hoof threateningly. He was not in good mood. He was stiff and more tired than he wanted to admit. Hours sitting in the saddle, okay perhaps bouncing was closer to the truth, had left both his backside and his ego, seriously bruised.  
  
"Alec, how the hell is that any different than the day to day?"  
  
"True," he relented with a small nod of his head. "But, how was the last time my fault?"  
  
"You weren't paying attention. You were so busy looking for Zack hiding in the trees you didn't notice the turn in the trail, so yeah, you're fault."  
  
"Hey, one of us has to be looking out for Zack. He does want to kill me you know Max. It's not like you're doing a whole hell of a lot."  
  
Max shrugged, "If Zack were nearby I'd know before you. So don't worry about it."  
  
"Oh yeah, how does that work?"  
  
She grinned. "No junk DNA remember? I'm practically perfect in every way," she teased. "Yeah, and modest to boot," he said wryly. Max whipped the canteen off her saddle and chucked it at Alec. He caught it easily with his left hand and quickly drained the rest. "Thanks, I needed that."  
  
"You're such an ass," Max snipped, but she was smiling.  
  
"And you're a..nevermind."  
  
"You're learning."  
  
"I'm quick like that." His mouth quirked and his eyes glimmered with unconcealed humor.  
  
Max and Alec led their horses over to a small stand of pine trees. Alec strung up some reflective tape around the trunks to make a small paddock area for the horses. They moved back to the middle of the camp site, an area slightly raised and flat. "I still think we should keep going," Alec told her.  
  
"The horses needed a break, and besides it's dangerous to move over unfamiliar territory in the dark, especially with the possibility of an enemy lurking in the shadows." Max lectured, hands resting lightly on her hips.  
  
Alec flashed her a sloppy salute. "Yes ma'am. Why did we even bother with the horses anyway? We could maneuver through these mountains without pack animals, in the dark, just as we can with them."  
  
"Sure, but I think Curt would have found it a little odd had we shown up and said: 'Hey, we need to no every strategic advantage in the approach to the cabin, because we're a couple of super soldiers genetically engineered by the government chasing another soldier hunting down your employee Jondy, who also happens to be a mutant freak. Have a nice day." Alec didn't respond, and Max laughed, cuffing the back of his head. "Idiot."  
  
Max walked away shaking her head and still smiling. She paused halfway to where her saddle was propped against a tree. Despite the entire Zack situation, she hadn't had a half bad time that day. Hell, it practically bordered on enjoyable, and she'd spent it with..ALEC. No single place in her mind did that make any sense whatsoever. Taking a steadying breath she pushed the disturbing thought from her head.  
  
The two made camp, mixing the idea for a fire and a hot meal, just in case someone was watching. Instead the quietly shared the heavy pack of beef jerky and rolls stuffed in their packs. Alec made a face as he gnawed on the meat. "I don't understand why people do this for FUN."  
  
"Have you always been this much of a kill joy? Think about it, the fresh air."  
  
"The fresh air."  
  
"No one around."  
  
Alec made a face, "the solitude."  
  
" ..just you and the mountain."  
  
"The complete lack of edible food."  
  
She sighed. "You're not giving this a fair shake."  
  
"I am thinking about it Max. I used to do this all the time remember? IN the woods, in the dark, find a target, no food, no water, alone. It was called basic training. I didn't enjoy it then I don't see what I should enjoy now, just because it's called camping and not survival training," he emphasized his point by emphatically jabbing with his jerky.  
  
Max immediately sobered at the mention of Manticore and the missions he'd had to endure there. "Right," she returned hollowly. Then she had a thought. "Well, I guess we'll just have to change your mind about all this. We'll do it again, just sans the crazed transgenic part." -Again? What was she talking about again?- Max shook her head and tried to ignore the odd look Alec was shooting her. "I'll take first watch," she mumbled. "I'll wake you in a few hours."  
  
--  
  
It was pitch black when Alec woke a few hours later. He'd been having a weird dream. He was in the middle of an earthquake...wait..an earthquake that whinnied?? Hazel eyes flew open and he propped himself on one elbow. Something was wrong with the horses. Where was Max? Shrugging off the question he leapt to his feet, just as a coppery hide zipped by him at a full gallop. "Shit. Max!" he called, not caring at this point who heard.  
  
He didn't see her, didn't hear her. He turned, just in time for his gray to strike him as he rushed past. The horse's massive shoulder nailed him and Alec flew back, smacking his head on the ground when he landed. His eyes widened as he saw the horse reel back on its haunches and prepare to leap over him. Alec curled into a ball, hands covering his head. He grunted as one of the gelding's hooves grazed his side.  
  
Max came running back into the camp as Alec was picking himself up off the ground. "What the hell happened to you?" He demanded irritably.  
  
"I heard something over by the river, so I went to check it out. What happened here?" she motioned to the ruins that was their camp site.  
  
"Our courageous steeds decided to spook at something," he commented dryly. "Mine decided it might be fun to use me as a kick start on his little sprint too. So what? Do we go after them?"  
  
Max shook her head. "Forget it, we could waste hours tracking them. It's four AM now, it'll be dawn in a couple of hours. They'll be fine, they know how to get back to the ranch. Let's just take what we can carry and get going. I want to get on the other side of the pass before tonight. Alec nodded, and the transgenics set about cleaning up camp.  
  
--  
  
They traveled steadily all morning, through the woods ever upwards. The sky lightened, but never past a light gray, and the clouds hung low over the higher peaks. The wind was bitter cold. The woods began to thin, and shrubbery became more scarce. Eventually they were walking on shale that slipped beneath their boots. They reached the snow line just after two that afternoon. The skies opened up and snow began to fall steadily.  
  
Max's face was flushed and she was sweating beneath the collar of her sweatshirt. Still she pushed forward, legs pumping progressively up the slope. Alec followed, looking for all the world like he would rather be somewhere else, with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His shoulders were hunched and his eyes cast downwards so he could only see Max's footsteps before him. The flakes of scow and ice stung his face and he pulled his collar higher.  
  
Another hour brought them to the base of the pass. It was a narrow, treacherous trail that cut between two peaks, little more than a crevice. The horses wouldn't have been able to manage, so she was suddenly glad they'd chosen to turn back when they did.  
  
Max could barely see through the storm and the wind whistled down the gap. She stopped, suddenly feeling very small standing between the rising walls of snow and ice. Alec came up beside her. "What do you want to do?" He asked, having to raise his voice to be heard over the wind.  
  
Max considered for a moment. "We could find someplace to take shelter and wait out the storm a few hours."  
  
"And if it gets worse? We could wait and then the pass would be to dangerous. Then we'd have to go the long way around"  
  
Max bit back a smile. Sometimes Alec knew far too well what she was thinking. "I'd rather go for it now. We'd be that much closer to Jondy. Are you up for it?" Alec flashed her a thumbs up. Max turned back to the pass, placing one deliberate foot on the rock, and started up.  
  
Their progress was almost unbearably slow. The storm was making for almost zero visibility, and slicking the rocks and trail with a thin layer of ice. Max's lips were cracking, the extreme cold blistering her exposed skin. Her hands were bleeding and torn from having to pull herself up over the sharp rocks.  
  
A knot grew between Alec's shoulder blades. His fingers ached and his eyebrows were encrusted with ice. He was freezing. Manticore training could not have prepared him for the violent storms of the Rockies. -I guess not even Maticore could beat out Mother Nature,- he supposed wryly. His foot slipped and he went down on one knee. He pushed himself back up quickly. It would be far too easy to lose Max if he fell more than a few feet behind.  
  
The trangenics made it to the top of the pass despite the Mountain's best efforts. Alec would have liked a drink of water, but all that was in his canteen had been frozen. "At least going down should be easier."  
  
"You think?" Alec called. "This storm isn't letting up any."  
  
"Well we can't stay here!"  
  
"I wasn't suggesting that we should. Now quite talking and move before I freeze in place!"  
  
The only plus going down was that wind let up marginally, so that snow wasn't whipping up in their faces. Alec guessed they were a little more than 2/3 of the way down when it happened. He felt it, the mountain shifting beneath his feet. His ears barely picked up the low rumble. Ten feet or so below him Max paused, turning back to look at him questioningly. He shrugged, glancing back over his shoulder.  
  
His mouth went dry and his breath caught in his throat. He turned back and doubled his pace, leaping recklessly over rocks and fissures in the path. "Max! Move it. Avalanche!!" Her eyes widened and she too began to run. The white wall of snow was careening down at them, growing in intensity by the moment. Alec leaped down a ledge, landing heavily, his feet sliding out from beneath him and he crashed to his knees. A sharp jolt went straight up his arm, but he couldn't stop and pushed on.  
  
Max moved faster than was safe, slipping and sliding down the trail, half falling, half awkwardly leaping. She could hear it now, chasing them, the angry roar of the mountain. Then she saw it, the end of the pass, where the path widened and leveled off. Her eyes scanned the rocks, and she spied a small cave, just big enough for two people. "Alec!" She cried over her shoulder, gesturing desperately for the safe haven. She just hoped he saw her. She dove for the opening, immediately spinning and waiting for Alec.  
  
Alec was running hard, breath billowing out behind him. He saw where Max had disappeared into the rock and headed for it. Behind him the snow gained steadily, till the avalanche was practically nipping at his heels. Ten more feet, just ten more feet. The cave, Max and safety were just beyond his reach when the tidal wave overtook him. He felt the snow hit him in the back, sending him flying face down.  
  
Max watched, horrified, from her place in the cave. He was so close. Then the snow caught him. It hit him hard in the back, flipping him head over heels. He hit the ground with his left shoulder, spinning helplessly over and over. The giant wave of snow engulfed him, propelling him further, until he disappeared. Max didn't even hear herself scream.  
  
Chapter 5 Cliffhanger huh? I know it's taken me a while to get this up, but please do bear with me, I'll try to update as fast as possible. Please read, enjoy, and don't forget to review, if only to yell at me for doing this to poor Alec.  
  
A/N: I'll admit it, (waves guiltily) I actually watched Dawson's Creek just to get a look at Ackles. Damn, I really don't like that show. 


	6. 6

Chapter 6: Author's Note: I'm sorry this is taking me so long, but it's taking me time to get my s*** together, considering my computer is being a pain and not letting me on the net. Grrrr. Anyway, love torturing Alec, it certainly brightens my day, lol. Have fun reading and don't forget to review!! Disclaimer: Lord know I wish I owned em. A/N2: Did anyone watch that new show "Birds of Prey" with former Dark Angel caster Ashley Scott?  
  
~*~  
  
"Alec!" Max yelled hopelessly. He was gone, just gone. There was no sign of him at all in the newly turned snow. "Alec!" She screamed again. Everything remained quiet. Max ditched her pack by the entrance to the cave and trudged out into the mouth of the pass. The wind had kicked up again, though not nearly as strong as before, and the icy granules lashed at her face. The snow rose high and she sank down up to her knees in some places. In others she sank up past her waist. It pulled at her, holding her back, sucking down on her feet.  
  
She headed for the spot where Alec had disappeared, or where she thought Alec had disappeared. Her eyes were wide and wild, flicking frantically back and forth over the snow. Her heart pounded against her chest and her hands were sweating in her gloves despite the cold. Never in her life had she been this close to pure, absolute panic. "No, no, no, no, no." She said anxiously. She grunted as she heaved a leg out of the snow. "Not like this. Damn it Alec."  
  
She searched randomly for a few moments, digging sporadically in the powder. After three or four minutes of fruitless searching Max stopped herself. 'Wait,' she scolded herself silently. 'Think, slow down.' She took a deep breath. The avalanche wouldn't have buried him where he fell. It was like a tidal wave, sucking him along in its current. She turned and started down the hill, eyes roaming carefully over the hillside.  
  
Fifteen feet or so down the slope she stopped again. She squinted. The wind was making it difficult to see, but there, ahead of her was something dark protruding upward. She trudged toward it, using her hands to pull herself along. Max stripped her gloves, casting them aside, bare fingers wiping off the object. It was Alec's pack, more than half buried, but it was his. It even smelled like him, like leather. She started to dig.  
  
Her fingers numbed so fast it burned, but she ignored it and plunged her hands deeper. She ignored the wind, the snow, her fear, focusing all her energy into digging. More time passed. Five minutes, ten, she wasn't really sure. Max knew people could survive underneath an avalanche, but for how long? Then her fingertips brushed something. She tried not to let herself become too excited. All the same she dug just a little faster. A boot, Alec's boot. She followed it down, until she dug out his leg and torso too.  
  
Grabbing the front of Alec's jacket she heaved upward, falling back ontop of the snow pack and bringing Alec's still form with her. She rolled him over onto his pack, wiping the ice and snow away from his face. His eyes were closed and his face was pale. His lips were tinged a frigid blue and the skin cracked, blood freezing over the splits. He wasn't breathing. She pressed her fingers into the side of his neck. His pulse was weak, but it was there.  
  
Max wasted no more time. Manticore had been careful to instill in all their kids a basic knowledge of First Aid and field medicine, including CPR. She crouched over Alec, not too hard considering she sank every time she moved. She cupped his chin, tilting his head back. She leaned over, her hair draping them both and made a seal of her mouth over his. She breathed for him, feeling his chest rise beneath her hand. She pulled away after a moment, hoping that he would just suddenly sit up and make some wise ass comment about the whole situation, but he just lay there.  
  
Max bit the inside of her lip. "Come on you stubborn ass. Breathe." She leaned in again. Nothing. Tears pricked her eyes. She leaned in one more time and sat back. His chest rose, slowly at first, then with ever increasing regularity. Max let out her breath with a whoosh. He was still unconscious, but at least he was breathing.  
  
The storm was getting worse. She couldn't see their cave at all, only her innate sense of direction told her where it was. She gripped Alec firmly, half carrying, half dragging Alec back in the direction of the cave. By the time the cave came into sight, the sun had begun to set over the craggy peaks. She was sweating, her teeth gritted. Alec was like a giant anchor. It wasn't until she reached the mouth of the cave and saw her own bag that she realized she had forgotten Alec's pack. She shook her head. She'd go back for it in the morning.  
  
Max pulled Alec carefully into the cave. She shook her head and snow flew from it like dust. She shrugged off her jacket and turned to her friend. His lips were still blue and his face was icy cold. She started fiddling with his jacket, unzipping it and peeling it off him. The soaked garment was doing more harm than good to him now. She threw the coat into one corner of the cave and went for his long sleeved shirt, pulling it off over his head and setting that aside as well. She went for his boots next, then his socks and pants, until he wore nothing more than his boxers and a black wife beater.  
  
The fact that his body was still so cold disturbed her. Max took the bed roll from her pack and laid it out on the floor of the cave. She moved Alec until he was lying on top of it on his side, then covered him with a thin space blanket. Max stripped her sweatshirt and shirt and removed the top layer of her pants, a waterproof shell. She lay down on the bedroll next to him, pressing her back to his chest and draped his arm over her. Hopefully her own body heat could help warm him. She took great comfort in his breath washing over her neck, his heart beating steadily against her back.  
  
She lay there for a few minutes, until the silence began to get to her. She sighed, settling her head on his forearm like a pillow. The story came slowly at first, then with ever increasing ease. "So you wanted to know when I learned to ride a horse? Well fine, I'll tell you. not like you can hear me anyway. It wasn't long after I escaped Manticore the first time."  
  
"I was separated from my brothers and sisters, alone. I wandered for days, keeping low, always moving, just like Zack taught us. I know you don't really like him, but he's saved my life more than once. Anyway, three days after the escape I wandered upon this farm. It was in the middle of nowhere, a little house and a barn. I was so tired, and cold, scared even. I hadn't slept. I figured I could hide out in the barn and get a move on before anyone noticed I was ever there. Yeah well, shark DNA or no I fell asleep, up the hay loft. Next thing I remember two people were standing over me, talking, staring."  
  
Alec's eyes felt heavy. He thought he heard Max's voice. Actually, he did hear Max's voice, but for once she wasn't yelling at him. Everything was dark, and cold, so cold. It felt like the tank at Manticore. He forced himself to slowly open his eyes. He couldn't see clearly at first, but something smelled good, like vanilla. He felt something shift in front of him, something warm, something soft. He suddenly realized that he was staring into the back of Max's neck, her barcode. He considered saying something briefly, but decided against it. She sounded so distant, so reflective, and he was content to just lay where he was and just listen.  
  
"I almost attacked them," Max continued. "But they were older, full of gray hair and kind eyes, and somehow, I just couldn't.."  
  
/ They didn't look dangerous. They talked to me, asked me my name. I didn't answer, Zack always said we shouldn't talk.  
  
The old man offered his hand to the young girl lying in his hay. She looked at it, but rose on her own, fixing him with a dead even stare. He shrugged. "Come on then, let's get you to the house." Max considered for a minute, considered just turning and running away, but she was tired of running. So she followed the old couple inside.  
  
The house was older, warm and inviting. The woman led Max over to the table, offering her a chair. Max gazed up at her before making the decision to sit. She thunked down heavily in the chair, hands in her lap, staring straight ahead. The woman turned to the stove and came back with a plate full of food, biscuits, eggs and sausage. The smells prickled young Max's nose and her mouth watered. "Go ahead dear, eat up." It only took Max a little while to devour the entire plate. The woman smiled slightly and filled her plate again, wiping her hands on her apron when she was done./  
  
"It was almost like the Pulse hadn't happened. Hell, it was almost like the last fifty years hadn't happened. They didn't even have a TV. They never asked anything more than that, never questioned the clothes, the barcode. They fed me, gave me some old clothes of their daughters. They took me in, some kid off the street and treated me better than anyone ever had. I started to relax, get comfortable. They showed me things, radio, music. Ned always took me out to see the animals. I liked the horses the best. I think I practically ate them out of house and home," she chuckled softly. "And they never asked me my name again. Ned and Eileen, those were there names, Ned and Eileen."  
  
/Young Max stood outside the stall, watching the horse inside chew slowly on his hay. She picked at the clothes the older couple had given her. The jeans were a little long and the Green sweatshirt hung off her tiny frame. She stood on her tip toes, leaning her forearms on the top of the stall door. The big animal turned from its hay net and blew a breath out in her face. Startled, Max yanked back, falling into Ned as he passed down the aisle.  
  
He laughed. "That's Samson. Don't worry, he wouldn't hurt a fly. Do you want to feed him an apple?" He removed the shiny piece of fruit from the pocket of his overalls. He held his palm out flat, the apple resting on top. "See, you feed it to him like this. He really likes apples. Do you want to try?" No answer. He was about to give up when he saw the little girl nod her head slowly. His smile widened. He handed her the apple. "Go ahead."  
  
Max approached Samson warily. The big half draft had caught scent of the apple and stuck his head out over the stall, bobbing his head happily, his thick forelock falling down over his eyes. Max held up the apple and Samson leaned down, his big, soft lips brushing the palm of her hand. Max smiled, turning to Ned for approval. His eyes were shiny and she didn't know why. "Yep, just like that."  
  
Slowly, days turned into a week. Max started helping with the barn chores, cleaning out Samson's stall and gathering the eggs from the chicken hutch. Then one day Ned came by as she was spreading fresh bedding for Samson. He had a big, dusty western saddle slung over one arm. "Hey kiddo," he leaned over the stall door. "Snow stopped. I thought we might give Samson a little exercise. Do you want to ride him?" Max grinned broadly, nodding quickly.  
  
Ned showed her how to tack up the horse, tighten the cinch and put the bit in the big horse's mouth. They led him outside, his massive hooves kicking up clouds of snow as he walked. They led him into a tiny, fenced in paddock. Ned gave little Max a boost and she settled quickly into the saddle, gathering up her reins. They couldn't shorten the stirrups enough for them to fit, so she went without. "Just take him around a couple times at the walk," Ned told her. "If you feel alright then you can give him a little nudge and ask him to trot. Hold the horn if you need balance."  
  
Max didn't. After a dew minutes she nudged Samson with her heels, and the big horse obediently moved into the faster pace. She bounced along for a few strides, before instinct and her incredible athleticism kicked in and she settled herself in the tack. She went along happily until Ned called for her to stop. She rode over to him, grinning happily, her cheeks rosy from the cold. Ned nodded, "You look like you were born to that." She looked at him long and hard for a long time.  
  
"Max," she said softly. "My name is Max."  
  
Another week passed. She rode Samson almost every day. She talked a little too, at first only a few words. By the end of the second week she would have short conversations with Ned and Eileen, and when no one was around, she told Samson about her brothers and sisters./  
  
Max shook her head. "I should have left the first time I got the chance, but I stayed. I shouldn't have let myself get so comfortable. It was my mistake, and Ned and Eileen had to pay for it."  
  
/Max rarely slept, and when she did it was light and only for a couple hours. Still, that particular night when her eyes flew open, something just felt wrong. She rose from the bed Ned and Eileen had given her, quickly tugging on jeans and a T-shirt. She grabbed her jacket from the door handle and padded silently down the hall and down the stairs. She pulled on her boots and headed out into the night. She could smell something, like something was burning. She moved faster.  
  
The barn was ablaze. High flames shot from the roof, licking at the black sky. Max's superior eyes let her see figures moving in from the woods to circle the house. Her heartbeat doubled. Manticore. And there in the lead, was the man Lydecker. She heard something collapse in the barn. Samson. She started running for the doors, but it was too late. The big horse screamed in terror, just before the roof caved in. None of the animals had a chance. Max stopped dead. Hands fisted by her side she shrieked at the top of her lungs.  
  
She turned back for the house, but the gunfire from inside the building stopped her. Soldiers streamed out the front door and headed for her. SO Max did the only thing she could. She fled./  
  
"I was always running after that. Always Manticore. Always Lydecker." The transgenics voice was quiet.  
  
Alec shifted slightly. "Max?" He felt her stiffen beside him. She rolled away from him quickly, suddenly uncomfortable with the very intimate position they had been in. She tugged her shirt back on and crouched, facing Alec. The old, bad memories left again, and she grinned.  
  
"Alec!" She cried, resisting the somewhat sudden urge she had to hug him. "How do you feel?"  
  
"I'm freezing and my space heater just ditched me," he joked. He sat up, keeping the blanket over his shoulders. Max rolled her eyes and moved back, sitting beside him. She settled down near his shoulder, resting her head against him and was surprised at just how comfortable it felt.  
  
"How are you really?"  
  
Alec flexed carefully. He was stiff as hell and sore, but nothing seemed terribly damaged. He shrugged. "I'm all right I suppose. Considering I just got nailed by an avalanche that is." Max promptly punched his shoulder. "hey! What was that for?""  
  
"You scared the crap out of me! Asshole!" She went to smack him again, but he caught her arm. She sighed. His hands were still half frozen. She took his hand in her own and began to rub. Alec was surprised at the gesture, but didn't comment. Instead he rested his chin on top of her head, breathing her scent in deeply.  
  
"You were scared?" The thought for some reason pleased him to no end, and he was glad she couldn't see him smirking.  
  
"Yes," she said simply. She brought his hand closer to her lips, blowing soft currents of warm air over the skin. Alec swallowed heavily. Her lips brushed the blistered skin of his fingertips. She looked up at him, barely realizing his face was mere inches from her own. "I don't want to lose you."  
  
His heart jumped. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. He took his hand from hers and gently touched her cheek. "Say that again," he asked.  
  
"I don't want to lose you," she said deeply. Max leaned in, her lips pressing into his, and suddenly the words didn't seem quite so important.  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Hope you liked it. Please review if you did. I'm new to this whole romance writing thing, so feedback is appreciated. Oh, and to the reviewer who asked, yes it is possible to get clipped by a horse and be okay. It hurts like hell and you wind up with an amazing bruise, but it is possible to walk away, trust me. Oh, and I hope no one minds this little detour I took with Max's life. I din't watch much of season 1, so I don't know. Thanks. 


	7. 7

Chapter 7:  
Author's Note: Obviously this isn't going to be easy. Heck, easy wouldn't be any fun. Besides, hurt Alec is very much fun, so I have to milk it at least another chapter.  
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own em, damn.  
A/N2: Hah, yes, Birds of Prey does seem very much like DA to me, at least the way Ashley Scott plays the character. And yeah, Ackles can even make Dawson's Creek bearable.  
  
~*~  
  
He was sinking, falling fast into a deep abyss, and he didn't care. He didn't want to stop, and he couldn't, even if he had wanted too. She was so close, so perfect. The moment was perfect, she was perfect. It was like his dreams, but this was better, because this was real. 'God she tastes good,' the thought ran through his mind. Her fingertips brushed his jaw. He deepened the kiss, and his hand traveled down her side.  
  
Max didn't know why she had kissed him. She didn't know when exactly he'd crawled so completely under her skin. And she didn't know why suddenly, but the thought of him not being there was like a knife in the gut. It was almost as if this was assuring her he was still there, and she wanted him there.  
  
SO she'd kissed him. She'd just suddenly felt the need. He pushed his lips into hers and she pushed back, her hands finding his face. His hand rested on her hip. His lips were chapped, rough, and she could feel faint stubble growing on his chin beneath her fingers. He felt right. He felt good. It felt so good it almost hurt.  
  
She'd forgotten what it was to feel so much. She was drowning in it. It had been so long with her and Logan 'not-being-like-that' yet so completely like that she could barely remember at exactly what stage their on-again off-again relationship was at. 'Logan,' Max thought, 'God Logan.'   
  
She almost stopped then, thinking about that man she was supposed to love. But Logan wasn't there, and Alec was. And suddenly feeling hurt seemed far preferable to not feeling at all, and even as tears pricked her eyes she kissed him again. And then she was falling too.  
  
Alec felt Max stiffen slightly, brace against his hands. Then she kissed him again, harder. Part of him wanted to ignore what he knew, but his better half was winning out. She would regret this later he knew, so better to stop it now while there was still a chance of her not hating him. He pulled back from her, preparing himself for the hurt he didn't want to see in her eyes. His lips pursed and he ducked his head.  
  
Alec pulled away from her. Her fall ended abruptly, as she slammed head first into her own walls. It was funny, how one could feel so much, and yet still be unable to say one damn word. She wanted to scream, to cry, but instead she sat, perched on her toes, waiting for Alec to look at her.  
  
He lifted his eyes to her own. They didn't have to say anything, what would be the point? They would have to talk, but not now, maybe no for a while. He could see it in her face, in her eyes, the defeated slump of her shoulders. She sighed, fixing him with those incredible dark eyes. She was lost and looking for a way back, but this, this was not the path to take. So instead of speaking he just drew her in, wrapping her in his arms. Max gave his shoulder a squeeze, happy that he could understand, and she rested her head on his chest. They stayed like that a long time in quiet, even as the night drew darker and the wind howled outside, until they both drifted to sleep.  
  
--  
  
Alec woke in the morning, and he pulled the blanket tighter around him. He wondered for a moment why his bed felt so hard. Then he remembered, the cave, the avalanche and the night before. He pulled his right arm closer, expecting to feel Max somewhere near him, but she wasn't. His hazel-green eyes flickered open, searching the far walls of the cave. He couldn't see her, hear her, smell her.  
  
Alec sat up, albeit slowly as his battered body protested loudly. He grimaced. The initial shock on his body had worn off, and he could suddenly feel the effects of the incident. His entire body ached, from head to foot. His neck was stiff and his joints throbbed. His right knee in particular, wanted nothing more to do with him. He peeled the blanket away from his leg, revealing a mass of irritated, swollen, bruised flesh. He reached down to gingerly prod his leg. The flesh was soft and swollen all over, and an interesting yellow purple in color. He could feel the heat radiating off it. "Shit," he said, running a hand through his hair.  
  
His leg was bad. He'd had worse actually, in the course of his missions for Manticore, but considering the situation it was less than ideal. He shouldn't walk on it at least until the swelling went down, and if he had to it was going to hurt like a bitch. Hearing something outside the cave, Alec quickly covered his leg. He didn't need Max to consider him a weak link, a burden.  
  
She appeared at the entryway, rosy cheeked and windblown. Her usually soft skin was dry from the elements and she had deep sunburn on her face and neck. Max brushed some snow from her jacket and tossed the pack at Alec's feet. She stood at the entrance, unable to look up. She couldn't stand to see his face.  
  
Waking up in his arms that morning had seemed strangely calming. The feeling had lasted only a few moments before a new wave of guilt and self-loathing over Logan passed through her. She was horrible, weak. Alec probably thought………, hell she didn't know what Alec thought, that was the problem. She couldn't read him.  
  
AS much as he didn't want to, they needed to talk. "Max..," he started, but was cut off by a wave of her hand.   
  
"I'm going back up the pass. See if I can't find out what started the slide yesterday."  
  
"You don't think it was natural?" He asked, letting himself be led on a tangent despite himself.  
  
"I don't think we're that lucky. I think maybe Zack was waiting us out, let us pass and then followed us. But I can't be sure till I find out what happened." She stared at her feet, glancing every so often outside, like any second she might turn and run.  
  
Alec shifted, preparing himself to rise before he remembered his knee. He sank back to the ground, clenching his teeth in irritation. If Max noticed the action she didn't say anything. "You shouldn't go by yourself in case it was Zack."  
  
"Well, it's not like you can go with me. You need to rest here."  
  
"I'm not an invalid Max," he scowled. "What if you meet up with him? You don't know what he might do."  
  
"Zack wouldn't hurt me," she answered flippantly.   
  
"If he set that avalanche on us he wasn't really too concerned with your safety Max. That slide could have buried you just as easily as me. I think we've pretty much firmly established his head isn't exactly screwed on straight right now," his voice rose and his scowl deepened.  
  
"I don't need you looking over my shoulder Alec. I've been doing fine without you for years, and I don't need you." The statement came across harsher than she had intended. And in one fail swoop the two transgenics had settled back in familiar patterns. Their arguments created distance between them, and suddenly the kiss seemed more like a mistake than something to ponder.  
  
Alec glared at her, angry that she was once again pushing him away. "Fine. You don't need anyone, I get it. And last night was just………"  
  
"Last night was last night, and I don't want to talk about it. It was just………a mistake." She closed her eyes, feeling another wrench in her gut as she remembered how much she'd needed him in that moment, and the empty, hollow feeling in her chest when she'd pulled away. "I'll be back," she finished shortly, turning on her heel and striding back into the snow. Soon she disappeared into the glare.  
  
Alec growled and swore beneath his breath. He clenched the pack in his fist and threw it at the wall. God she was infuriating. Anger burned his eyes for a few moments before he finally sighed. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to say, so how could he be mad at her? 'Because she makes it so damn easy,' he thought before he could stop himself. He grumbled again, stretching back down and putting his forearm across his face. He couldn't go along, his clothes were soaked and his knee a wreck. He'd be okay to move on it in a few hours he was sure, but not before that, so, left with little to do, he slept.  
  
--  
  
Max kicked angrily at the snow at her feet. The motion sent a spray of powder up in front of her. She'd been heading back up the pass for an hour and a half now. She wasn't going too quickly, finding a slow, meandering trip far preferable to one where she would be back in the cave with Alec within a few hours. Not to mention that she had, despite Alec's best efforts to the contrary, seen his knee just before he'd covered it. He needed time enough to rest and heal. And besides, if Zack had set the avalanche, which is what her gut was screaming, Jondy wasn't in immediate peril. Zack still had his sights set on Alec.  
  
The cold was blistering and even the mild breeze cut through her jacket, but she still wanted to be anywhere than near Alec. She couldn't believe she had let herself be so disloyal to Logan, so weak. And if she really wanted to admit it to herself it wasn't even so much Alec that was the problem. He was just there, a convenient escape. She had used him, and that made her feel worse. But since when had Logan become something to escape from? So she moved slowly, letting the thoughts ramble on in her head, all the while embracing the numbing forces of nature.  
  
The top of the pass was icy and she could see where large slabs of snow had slipped and begun the slide. Giants chunks of rock protruded out of the white. Max wandered around for a long time, her keen eyes sweeping everything for a clue, without success. The storm the night before had successfully eliminated any and all signs that might have been left.  
  
She let out a long sigh and sat heavily on a large rock. She drew her feet up onto a small ledge and leaned back, bracing her palms against the stone. The storm had cleared significantly, and the view from the top of the pass was incredible. She could see for miles on end. It reminded her, in a small way, of the Space Needle, though here there were no buildings to view, no cars or traffic, just beautiful untouched country. SO she sat, unmoving, looking with eagle eyes out beyond the horizon.  
  
--  
  
Alec gritted his teeth in annoyance. Max had stalked back into the cave an hour or so earlier, announcing their departure. The firm set to her lips and steely gaze left little room for argument, not that Alec wouldn't have tried, but for the fact that he really didn't want to talk to Max at all. So he'd thrown on a sweatshirt and his jacket, rising carefully to his feet. The swelling in his knee had diminished considerably in the five hours Max had been gone, and he'd wrapped it as an extra measure of support, but he was still careful. Now he was outside, dogging behind Max as she cut a fast path through the snow.  
  
His knee didn't hurt, aside from the occasional throb. His adrenaline and the blood coursing through his leg were enough to dull the pain away almost completely. He knew however, it would probably come roaring back later. His irritation festered and grew with each passing step. For two hours he followed her down the mountain, back down past the tree line, without Max so much as glancing back over her shoulder.   
  
"Max," he finally said. She kept going, though the almost imperceptible hesitation in her step told him that she'd heard him. "Max," he said again, louder this time. This time she stopped, though she still didn't look at him.   
  
"What? We need to find Jondy Alec. I don't want to stop and waste time. We still need to cross the river before dark."  
  
"Oh get off it Max. You didn't seem too concerned this morning when you left for five hours on a wild goose chase back up the pass. And, come on, I know it didn't take you that long to get up there. So, what's the real reason you don't want to talk to me?" he shrugged his pack off, letting it drop to the ground with finality. He wasn't moving till he got some answers.  
  
"I saw your knee," she began weakly. "I didn't want to push you."  
  
Alec shook his head. "Try again Maxie. I'm keeping up with you just fine now and I know you're not all that concerned for my health."  
  
Max turned slowly. "Logan," she told him quietly.  
  
'Logan. Of course Logan,' he thought bitterly. 'Why didn't I just guess?' "What about Logan? You two aren't together anymore? Or wait, is this an on-again week?"  
  
"Don't joke Alec."  
  
"I'm not Max. You're the one that can't figure out your 'relationship' or whatever the hell you want to call it."  
  
"No, we're not together. I told him we were done and I meant it. I can't risk hurting him. But I knew what would happen. We'd just fall back into our patterns and be right back to where we started. So I lied, to protect him. I just never thought………I never thought the lie would be anything more."  
  
Alec's eyes narrowed. "You lied? What do you mean you lied?"  
  
"I had to keep him away Alec. It was the only way to keep him safe."  
  
"Max."  
  
"He saw us Alec, outside my apartment, right after I broke you out of jail. He called me on it, and I just told him what he needed to hear. I told him we were together." Alec blanched, an angry flush rising up his neck. "I never meant for anything to happen Alec, I wasn't ever even going to tell you."  
  
"What Max? Like that makes it better? You were going to use me, but as long as I didn't know about it, that's okay?"  
  
"It's not like that Alec. I was desperate."  
  
"It's just like that Max. It's so easy for you to make me the bad guy. You don't want to tell Logan it's over, so you use me. That way he doesn't hate you. You know, you've got all the forgiveness in the world when it suits your purpose, like now with Zack. I thought you were stronger than that." He turned, and began to walk away.  
  
"Alec," Max started. She felt guilty. She hadn't really thought about the repercussions of her lies to Logan. She'd never even considered that she might hurt Alec while protecting herself. Alec, who was always there when she needed him, fighting the good fight by her side, even though in the beginning it hadn't been his fight. She searched for words to apologize, but there weren't any.  
  
"Forget it Max." he put the pack back on. "I'll be back, but right now….." he shook his head, "I need to walk, alone." Max watched him till the trees blocked her view. Then she sat down and cursed herself, and her own weakness.  
  
--  
  
Max jumped and stiffened when she heard the gunshot. She leapt to her feet, wheeling. The shot came from the direction Alec had gone. Max paled. She scooped her bag up and began a mad dash through the trees. Another shot reach her ears, then another, and with each she flinched and ran faster. She headed South, toward the canyon and the river.  
  
The trees thinned as she neared the rim. "Alec!!" She burst out of the forest still going full tilt.   
  
"Get Down!" There was a brief flash of movement at her right just before she felt her legs go flying out from underneath her. Alec had hit her in a flying tackle just below the waist, sending them both crashing to the ground, as another shot passed just overhead. Alec sprang immediately back to his feet, grabbing Max's arm and dragging her along with him.  
  
"Come on," he growled through gritted teeth. He noticed the look she was giving him and rolled his eyes. "I'm pissed at you Max, I don't want to see you dead."  
  
"What's the situation?" She called as they ran, weaving back and forth haphazardly.   
  
"Sniper, on high ground," he filled her in between breaths. He's got good cover, I couldn't spot him. I must have lost my gun in the slide, I can't find it in my pack. I think we need to cut our losses and make a tactical retreat."  
  
"IS that your way of saying, 'run faster,'?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
The two transgenics matched each other stride for stride. Suddenly Max hit the skids, holding out her arm and catching Alec near his waist. The two slid to a stop right at the edge of the canyon, peering straight down some forty feet or fifty feet into the river. "This is just great Alec!" Max snapped. "You led us right to a dead end."  
  
"I know. I have a plan."  
  
"Yeah and that would be?"  
  
Alec glanced quickly between Max and the drop. He fixed her eyes with his. He grasped her wrist in his hand. "Do you trust me?" Max blinked, her mouth hanging slightly open. "Good." With that he stared straight ahead and jumped, pulling Max with him. Another shot ripped through the air.  
  
Max felt herself jerk as they jumped. Then she was hurtling downward at an incredible speed. Her hair flew up in her face and she felt Alec's grip tighten around her wrist. They hit the water with unbelievable force. Max felt the air whoosh out from her lungs. The water was so cold it was like a thousand knives stabbing her at once. The current lashed at them, tearing Alec's hand from her wrist as the water sucked them down.  
  
She was tossed head over heels. She fought every natural instinct she had not to fight. The river was deep and she didn't quite know which end was up. She had to relax, let her body float toward the surface. She wanted to breath, but as of yet it was only a mild inkling, score one for Manticore and the tank. After what seemed like an eternity she felt herself float and immediately kicked for the surface.   
  
She broke the surface and sucked in a deep breath. Her eyes flew open and she tread water to stay afloat. "Alec!" She called. She couldn't see him anywhere. "Alec!" There was no answer. Max felt the current change and suddenly she saw the top of a rock protruding just above the water's surface. She kicked, but it was too late. She hit the rock, crunching her wrist against it's surface. The water pulled her under once again. When she came up she began to swim for the river's edge.  
  
--   
Alec trudged slowly along the river. His coat hung off the back of his pack, and he dripped with every step. He hadn't seen Max when he'd surfaced. He let himself float along the river for a while, hoping to see her, but he hadn't. Now he was backtracking, hoping that she'd washed up somewhere up river. The sun was settling again, and the sky shone a brilliant orange-red. Soon it would be dark and the temperature would dip below freezing once again. He had no inclination to spend the night alone, out in the open, freezing and wet.  
  
He spotted her five minutes later, trudging toward him. "Max!" He called out, relieved. He broke into a jog. She still didn't look up. "Max!" he reached her just as she stumbled. He grasped her chin, lifting her head. Her eyes were dull and hollow, and she was sweating despite the cold. "Max?" Her eyes flicked briefly over his face. Her knees buckled. He caught her before she struck the ground. She was soaked, obviously, but he could feel something warm on his hand. He pulled his hand from her back. "Oh shit. Max?" Her eyes were closed, and his hand was covered in blood.  
  
Chapter 7  
Yeah!! Much fun. Input is loved and appreciated. Feel free to press that little purple button and leave your thoughts. 


	8. 8

Chapter 8:  
Author's Note: I know this has been a long time coming and I'm sorry, but I haven't hd much time to write and then, yahoo, Thanksgiving break. So now I have a bit of time and am trying to catch up.  
Disclaimer: I am a poor, starving college student, I own nothing.  
  
~*~  
  
Alec's eyes were wide with shock, his mouth hanging open slightly. "Max?" he called again softly as he lowered her prone form onto the wet ground near the river's edge. One hand held her back while the other was buried in her hair, cradling her neck. His hands were covered in blood, warm and wet. He removed his hands from underneath her and stared dumbly at his crimson fingers. The blood was an intense, bright red, testament to the fact that wound was still open, flowing freely. He eyed the rest of her carefully, taking special note of the awkward way her wrist lay. He probed it gently, confirming his suspicions that it was broken.  
  
He kneeled in the slush and mud, unaware of any of it. He swiped his hands across his pants, trying to wipe off as much of her blood as possible. Alec fumbled with the frozen zipper on Max's water soaked jacket, finally tearing it down with a frustrated cry. Her pushed her onto her side, carefully stripping the garment off her, casting the garment to the side. Alec pulled the back of her collar down, tearing the cloth and exposing her shoulder so he could examine the wound. There was blood everywhere, running over her shoulder and down her back. The bullet had entered just to the left of her right shoulder blade, and there was no exit wound he could see.  
  
"Shit," he cursed. She was losing a lot of blood, too much, even for a transgenic. He rolled her onto her back once again. He checked her pulse, relieved to find it thumping regularly beneath his fingertips. Her skin was cold, clammy and pale.   
  
"No, no, no, no, no," he kept repeating over and over again. His chest was tight and he felt a strange lump rise near the back of his throat. He touched her cheek gently with the back of his palm, sweeping a few dark, damp tendrils of her hair off her face. Her lips were tinged with blue and it as then that he first noticed the encroaching nightfall and the temperature dropping. His breath was clouding every time he breathed and the small droplets of moisture on her eyelids had begun to freeze. They couldn't stay here, in the open, with the wind whipping down on them from the mountain.  
  
Max had never looked fragile to him before that moment. Sure, he'd seen her upset, tired, and well, bitchy was a given, but never so weak, never helpless. He grasped her firmly and stood, clutching her close to him as he rose. Her head rested limply in the crook of his arm. He trudged South along the river, hugging close to the canyon walls. There was a trail a few miles back, leading out of the canyon and he wanted to get up it before dark.   
  
Carrying Max it took almost an hour to ascend out of the river basin. IN that time he'd felt her blood soak through the front of his jacket and start to trickle down his chest. His knee throbbed painfully and white hot flashes streaked up his leg, but he kept moving. Ten minutes out of the canyon found him facing a large, rocky outcropping. Trees above offered some shelter from snow and it's high, banked walls promised adequate protection from the wind. He was sweating now, breaths coming harder and there was a knot worked into his upper back. He set Max down on the earth, close to one of the walls.  
  
'Fire," he thought to himself. They needed a fire. The night sky was brilliantly clear, a sure sign at the deep freeze the night would become. Alec was half frozen himself. The outer layers of his clothes were frozen stiff, and every time he moved the fabric crunched. His fingers were numb and his body felt stiff and heavy, like he was moving in slow motion. His hair was frosted white, spiked and frozen. They needed fire. He could survive the night, not moving, but Max…….Max needed the warmth. If only he weren't so damnably tired.   
  
Max's pack had been lost in the river, but Alec dumped everything out of his and piled it up, keeping the empty shell. He moved back to Max and checked her pulse again. It was noticeably weaker this time and her body had started to tremble. "I'll be right back Max," he assured her. "I promise." Slowly he stood, hunching over in a poor attempt to make himself warmer and delved back out into the woods. He picked up any scraps of wood he could find, stuffing them hastily into his pack. Luckily, since the ground had not been anything less than frozen in five or six months, most of the woods he did find was reasonably dry.  
  
Alec gathered all he could, both in his pack and both arms before heading back. His eyes were heavy and every step felt like wading through waist high mud. There was Max to think about after all. She was right where he'd left her, cold and shivering pressed against one wall. The silence was starting to get to him. Since being let out of Manticore there had been very rare moments of real silence, and he honestly didn't miss them. So he started talking and didn't stop. He figured it would be a good way to keep himself awake too. "It'll be all right now Max. We'll get this fire going and soon we'll be nice and toasty."  
  
He piled a small lump of kindling and rooted around his pile of supplies for matches. He found some, but the box pack was almost empty. Only four remained. He steadied himself and he willed the slight tremble of his fingers to cease and then plucked one from the pack. He struck it, watching as it sputtered to life, sizzling wildly for a moment before a rogue gust of wind snuffed it out. Alec cursed and reached for another. This time he was more careful, shielding the match with his free palm. Unfortunately, his caution brought more trouble, as the match burned out on his fingertips before he got it to the kindling. Alec clenched his jaw. "Third time's a charm right?"  
  
He let out a small sigh of relief as the pile of kindling began to smoke, then burn. He resisted the urge to cheer and cautiously added a small piece of wood to the fire, adding on till sizeable logs were burning furiously. He reached for his knife, unsheathed it, watching the flames flickering off the steel. He shoved it blade first into the glowing embers. "Sorry Max, can't see any better way to do this," he said apologetically, shrugging.  
  
He turned toward her, sitting down close to the fire, his legs crossed. He pulled Max closer, hugging her tiny frame in his arms as he savored the warmth of the blaze. He kept one hand at her back, doing what little he could to slow the bleeding. He kissed the top of her head. "You know Max," he mumbled into her hair. He lifted his chin slightly. "I would never get involved in half the stupid shit I get into if not for you. You're constantly dragging me here and there. If it's not for some altruistic let's save all the transgenics cause then it's some whacked EO mission Logan needs help with."   
  
He kept up the conversation as he waited for the blade to heat, not really caring that he was effectively talking to himself. "And what the hell is that anyway? I mean, it's irritating, the way he constantly refers to himself in the third person? I mean, we both know he's Eyes Only, so why bother?" he shook his head. "Freak."  
  
The conversation went on like this for several more minutes. "….So what am I doing here, in the Rocky Mountains? Following you, like always, even when I should know better. And I do you know. Let's recap shall we? A, you get me on some nutty horse that I'm sure would far prefer to be in his little stable or whatever, resting. Then I get buried by an avalanche, shot at by a sniper, have to jump off a cliff then find you shot to hell…..have I missed anything?" Max didn't answer. "Good, didn't think so."  
  
The blade still needed a little more time. SO he started to hum, some strange song from decades ago he'd heard once. He'd found it funny at the time, and now it just seemed appropriate. The group had had a weird name too……Beach Bums maybe? His mind was wandering. He started to sing the words softly. "So hoist up the John B's sail, see how the main sail sets…..I want to go home, yeah, yeah…..this is the worst trip, I've ever been on." A slow smile crept to his lips. "Yep, that about covers it.   
  
The knife would be ready now. Alec lifted Max up os he could scoot out from underneath. He kneeled by her side. "I'm glad you're not awake for this. I could hear now, bitch, bitch, bitch. He stripped Max's sweatshirt and T, till she was clad only in her pants and a black bra. Hew reached for the fire, pulling the knife from the embers. The knife glowed a dull orange.   
  
Holding the knife firmly in his right, Alec used his left to turn Max onto her side. HE swiped the long, dark hair away from her neck and pulled the bra strap down over her shoulder, his fingers sweeping over her soft skin. Then, with a sigh, he pushed the knife down. Max's flesh sizzled, but she remained eerily still as the metal cauterized her wound. The stinging, hot aroma of burning flesh made his nose prickle. The deed finished, her tossed the knife in the general direction of his pack and threw another log onto the fire.   
  
Alec resisted the urge to sit back down, to hold her close. Max was still desperately in need of blood, and he had not had the foresight to pack a transfusion kit, or anything with which he could improvise. He needed to find Jondy's cabin, though he didn't dare try and bring Max along. The less she was moved, the better. The bullet was still lodged somewhere in her chest cavity, so she would stay, while he went for help. The map the rancher had given them was lost somewhere out in the river, but he could picture it in his mind's eye. His best guess put him some three or four miles North of the cabin.  
  
Alec covered Max in their space blanket and placed some rocks he'd had near the fire around her. He sheathed his knife near his ankle, just in case. Alec stood. He was ready to set off, but he was stuck, rooted firmly in place watching Max's face in the firelight. He wanted to stay, but that wasn't practical, so he turned and set off before he could change his mind.   
  
He kept himself to a reasonable clip, scrutinizing every landmark, every notable piece of shrubbery so he would be able to find his way back. He didn't plan on this little jaunt lasting anything more than forty or so minutes. Five minutes in he spotted the first true signs of life, hoof prints frozen into the ground, and a lot of them, all headed South. He ran a little faster.  
  
Alec stopped again after another half mile. He crouched, eyes skimming over the ground and the mass of hoof prints. His enhanced smell caught wisps of wood smoke on the breeze. He was close. Something rustled on his left. He tensed, fingers clenching instinctively. He reached for his ankle, for his knife. He spun, lashing out with the blade, but a dark figure was ready for him and deflected the blow. Something smashed into Alec's temple and he went down, darkness enveloping him.  
  
--  
  
"What?" Jondy looked up from her book. Zack was at the window, hands fisted around Jondy's double barreled rifle. His eyes were intense, searching the darkness. Her chair scraped the wood floor of the tiny cabin as she stood and went to be near Zack. She peered out the window into the valley, but all she could see was her herd. They were milling quietly, occasionally letting out a long moo. "What is it?"  
  
Zack's face was hard, his mouth set. He never even looked in her direction. "Someone's out there," he breathed.   
  
Jondy sighed and placed a soft hand on his shoulder. Before just a few months ago, Jondy hadn't heard from Zack in almost a year. The last time she'd seen him was about a year after she's gotten the job at the ranch. She'd met him in Denver and they'd talked, about a lot of things. They'd talked about Lydecker, Manticore, the others and them. Back then Jondy had been almost sure there was a them.   
  
Zack kept closer tabs on her than most of the others, stayed with her longer, was more open with her, at least for Zack.  
  
They'd talked about them in that bar, even dared mention a future. He'd laid his hand on top of hers and smiled, honestly smiled. Then he'd said he had to check on Max. He'd come back right after, but he wanted to make sure she was all right. But he hadn't come back, and after a while, she lost hope that he would.  
  
Then, three months ago she'd gotten a call at the ranch. The name was different, the voice unsure, but it had been him no doubt. She'd picked up the phone. "Hello?"  
  
"Hello. My name is Adam. Look, this is gonna sound a little strange but……..do you know me?"  
  
Shocked and happy, Jondy had taken her first vacation. The man on the other end of the line had questions, some she couldn't answer, some she could. She'd gone to meet him, at a small farm a few hours outside Seattle. She spotted him the moment she got out of her car, but her elation faltered when she really looked at him. Zack, her Zack wasn't there anymore. There was just some confused man in his body, asking her questions with hollow eyes.  
  
She spent almost a month with him, just talking, slowly giving him back little pieces of his memory. It had been a rough time. Half the time Zack didn't want to believe what she told him, about Manticore, about the transgenics. A few times the flashbacks to the days of being a soldier made him lash out viciously. He'd even attacked her once, but luckily JOndy had been ready and wound up with little more than a few bruises.  
  
She started telling him about the escape, their siblings. She mentioned Max, and something glimmered in his eye. He'd reached up with his right hand and touched his chest. "I'm a part of her," he mumbled softly. Then he started to remember on his own, though a lot of the times the memories were unclear, disjointed. She helped him sort through, helped him become Zack again. She left after a month, but he kept in close touch, calling her a few times a week.   
  
Now, watching him stare out the window she wondered if he would ever really be Zack again. Sometimes she thought he was back to normal, but he was still paranoid. He still thought someone was out to get him, her. It had been quite a surprise when he'd showed up at the cabin door two days earlier, rambling on about Max and trouble and how she wasn't safe. She'd tried to placate him, and it and worked to an extent, but he was still on edge.  
  
"Zack, there's no………" her eyes narrowed. Something was moving at the edge of the woods, along the rim of the herd. "You're right," she said lowly. Zack's eyes flicked in her direction and he moved for the door. "Wait a second, I'm coming with you….." JOndy scowled, bending down and unlocking the bottom drawer of her small desk. She said without looking at him, "Don't even argue with me Zack." She drew a small 9 mm from the drawer, checked the clip quickly and drew back the barrel, priming it.   
  
Zack watched her, agape. "You have a pistol."  
  
Jondy felt a grin tugging at her lip. "It would seem that way, wouldn't it? Nice gun too, semi-automatic, thirteen in the clip one in the chamber, and never jams. What?"  
  
"You have a pistol."  
  
"I thought we'd established this already."  
  
"You have a pistol, and didn't tell me."  
  
"Really?" She cocked her head to one side. "Must have slipped my mind."  
  
"Jondy!"  
  
"What Zack? You really think I've forgotten everything they taught us, everything you taught us? I don't see Lydecker around every corner, it's true, but I'm ready if I need to be. And as for not telling you, I'd prefer you not take pot shots at everything in the woods that twitches. Last thing I need is for the herd to stampede. You ready?"  
  
With a final glare, Zack nodded and opened the door, slipping out into the darkness. He kept low, and motioned with two fingers for Jondy to split with him, so they could come at the figure from both sides. She nodded and trotted off, keeping the nose of her weapon pointed at the ground. She moved quickly, silently, as she'd been trained.   
  
He knew they were coming. There was no doubt in his mind. He'd seen them leave the cabin, his approach giving him a clear view of the only exit to the building. He kept his eyes forward, trying to resist the urge to look to his left, where Jondy was, or into the trees, where Zack was surely staring at him. "Hold it right there," a soft, yet demanding voice said from his left. He halted, shifting his load in his arms. He heard a rifle being cocked.  
  
Zack stepped out of the trees, rifle up and steadied on his shoulder. Jondy came forward too, her pistol leveled at his head. "Don't shoot," he pleaded. "It's Max, she needs help." He heard Zack growl. "She's been shot. I know what you're thinking, but it wasn't me Zack. I wouldn't hurt Max. Why would I have come looking for you if I wanted to hurt her?"  
  
Jondy glanced between the two men anxiously, willing Zack not to fire. "We ought to just kill him now JOndy, get it over with. He's lying. He came after me, and he was coming after you too."  
  
"That wasn't me!"  
  
"Then who??!!!" he shoved the rifle toward the man. Jondy's heart beat a little quicker.  
  
"Zack, don't, you'll hit Max. And what if he's telling us the truth?"  
  
"He's not."  
  
"I am. I didn't come after you Zack, I've never even seen JOndy before this. I came looking for you earlier, and I was attacked. I barely made it back to Max. As strange as this sounds…..I think it was…..my twin…..I think it was Ben." Zack froze and Jondy sucked in a quick breath.  
  
--  
  
Jondy rummaged through her kit of medical supplies, pulling out syringes and long strips of rubber tubing. Zack was at her side, keeping one eye on Alec, who was seated next to a still prone Max. "I still don't trust him," he muttered.   
  
"Well, when we get Max back on her feet we can get the story from her. But for the time being he stays. You trust her, don't you?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Okay then, how bout you get out of my way so I can help her. She needs blood, and then we'll need to get that bullet out." Jondy raised her eyebrows and Zack stepped out of her way. "Alec, it's Alec right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I'm gonna hook you up to give Max a transfusion while I start. SO just stay still and relax."  
  
Nearly an hour later Jondy finished digging the bullet from Max's shoulder. "She was lucky," she announced. "A few more inches and it would have been lodged in her spine. She should be okay now, but it may be a while before she wakes up."  
  
Alec nodded, pulling the needle from his arm and detaching Max from their makeshift transfusion system. "Her color looks better," he observed. Zack didn't say anything, just glared.  
  
A loud call from several of the cows made all the transgenics pause. Jondy went to the window. "They're upset. Something's bothering them." She exchanged a look with Zack and they headed for the door for the second time that night, guns ready. They slipped out, leaving Max and Alec alone.  
  
Max stirred on the bed and he went to her, sitting lightly on the edge of the bed. He touched her face, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. "Wake up Maxie."  
  
Max's eyelids fluttered and she groaned. Her body felt so heavy, and there was a sharp, stabbing pain in her back every time she moved. Someone was standing over her, but her vision was blurry and she couldn't tell who it was. "Alec?" she finally managed to croak.  
  
He bent closer, his breath washing over her face. A cold glint came to his eyes and his smile twisted. A shiver ran down her spine when he touched her throat. He shook his head. "No."  
  
Chapter 8  
Figured that would be a good place to leave it for the time being. Sorry it's taken me so long. Should have the next, and I think last chapter up quicker than this one. Please review and thanks. 


	9. 9

Chapter 9  
Author's Note: I know, I know this has taken me forever. (Ducks head and waits for rotten fruit to be tossed.) This is hopefully a fitting end to this story, and yes, I will be continuing Complicated as soon as the plot bunnies in my ehad start rolling again.  
Disclaimer: Unless things have changed recently, I still don't own em.  
  
~*~  
  
A dark form lay prone in a thick stand of trees. He lay face down in the pine needles and snow. Alec shifted uncomfortably and groaned, his mind dull. He fisted the ground reflexively. Where was he? What happened? And why exactly did he have such a splitting headache?  
  
Then he remembered, an attack from behind. He'd been tracking Jondy's herd toward the cabin. Alec rolled onto his back, feeling a dull ache in his ribs. He opened his eyes slowly, feeling the dried blood on his lids split and crack.  
  
He grimaced, bringing his hands to his face. The flesh around his left eyes was hot and swollen, sticky from the congealed blood. He blinked a few times, straining to get his eyes to focus on his outstretched hand. "Shit," he finally managed. 'What the hell happened?' he thought to himself. With another long groan he sat up, clutching his left side with his right hand.   
  
He kneeled on one knee and checked his ankle. He swore beneath his breath, his knife was missing. Alec stood, swaying slightly on his feet. He shook his head a little and blinked a few more times. The pain in head was sharp, dull in the ribs, but for some reason his head cleared. He glanced around, relieved to find that he hadn't been dragged off anywhere. His eyes flicked between the shadows, wary of another attack. 'Could it have been Zack?'  
  
He dismissed the theory quickly. Zack was perhaps the most obvious choice, but he wasn't the type to hit him from behind. Zack would want Alec to face him, to show him he was the better soldier. SO then who? Jondy was a possibility, after all, he didn't know her fighting style, but he doubted it. The figure that had jumped him was large, like a man, and there had been something strangely familiar about him.  
  
So then, if not Zack, and not Jondy, who? The answer he didn't have, nor would he get it standing around the middle of the forest. He considered for a moment to keep moving toward the cabin, but a disturbing clenching of his gut made him turn back. 'Max.' He broke into a trot, limping slightly and still clutching his side. But soon his adrenaline was pumping, and the pain subsided.   
  
As soon as he neared the outcropping, Alec knew that the situation had spun completely out of his control. The fire still flickered, casting ominous shadows against the granite, but Max's familiar, albeit prone form was gone. Alec broke heavily into a walk, fists balled together. "Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!! Shit!" Heavy bootprints littered the ground near where Max had lain. The prints headed back in the direction of the cabin. Alec took off without another thought.  
  
--  
  
Max's eyes widened reflexively. He watched confusion and disbelief flicker through them. Her moth opened in a silent, horrified cry. She pressed down into the cot, as if trying to sink as far away from his as possible. She worked her jaw, trying to find words. "Ben?" her voice was quiet, raspy. "No. It's not possible."  
  
Ben's hand never left her throat. The glimmer of unadulterated hate and disgust didn't waver in his hazel eyes. "it's possible," he assured her in that same low whisper.   
  
Max was having trouble focusing. She was still staring past him and her body writhed a little beneath his touch. "You died. I killed you in the woods. No."  
  
"Yes. You killed me Maxie, but it wasn't good enough. I was resurrected." He reached across with his left hand and pressed his palm onto her chest. "You know what that is, don't you? Sweet eternity being yanked away? I didn't want to come Maxie, but Manticore brought me back."  
  
"I snapped your neck," Max was crying now, tears streaming freely from her eyes.  
  
"Oh come on Max, be smart. I know you can figure this out. You got a new heart, Zack's a bionic freak. You don't think they could fix something like a broken neck?"  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I tried."  
  
Ben jumped up from the bed, the movement of which sent a screaming jolt up her back. "You tried?!!!! Fuck you tried! It wasn't good enough Max. I woke up strapped to a table. I went through reindoctrination, and do you know what I learned? The Good Place? It doesn't exist!!! There was nothing Max, nothing!"  
  
"But the Blue Lady………"  
  
"I was wrong. She's not real. Manticore was the only thing that was real. I realized that. Manticore was our home, we belonged there, we never should have left."  
  
"NO Ben. The world outside Manticore may not be perfect, but it's still better than being a slave."  
  
"No!!! We had a purpose there. They made me see that I was sick. When I got better, they gave me a mission. I was supposed to bring you all back. You, Zack, Jondy, Brin, everyone that escaped in 09'. My mission was to bring you all back, dead or alive." His voice wavered, and his hands dropped by his side.  
  
"Manticore's gone Ben. It's okay."  
  
He turned on her then, rage flaring in his eyes once again. "It is not okay!! It's gone, all of it. And whose fault is that Max? But the mission objective doesn't change because Manticore's gone. My mission remains, but there's no longer any point in retrieving you all alive."  
  
Max's head screamed for her to move, but her body refused to cooperate. She felt Ben's thick, large hands encircle her neck once again. Her hands clawed at his wrists uselessly as he choked the life from her.   
  
--  
  
Alec felt the sweat bead on his forehead. His tongue darted over his lips and he willed himself to remain absolutely still. His eyes flicked down from his perch, and he watched Zack's dark form pass underneath him. His knuckles were bone white as he gripped the branch above his head with one hand. His feet were pressed firmly into the bark of the large pine tree.   
  
He'd been watching the cabin from the edge of the woods, just beyond the herd. He didn't understand why anyone would have taken Max here, and do such a piss poor job of hiding their trail, but then, Zack hadn't been making a hell of a lot of sense as of late. The tracks had, regardless of the logic, brought him here, to Max, and that was all that mattered.  
  
A slender beam of light shot out into the darkness when they opened the door. He'd leapt up and grabbed hold of a low branch. He swung his legs over the branch and clambered higher up into the tree, balancing precariously on the pines weak limbs. He only hoped that the intense odor of the cattle beneath him would hide his own scent.  
  
Alec waited until Zack had moved past him by a good 150 yards before dropping silently out of the tree. His eyes darted around him as he landed, his tongue flicking out over his lips. Then he bolted for the cabin, staying low and hopefully out of sight.  
  
--  
  
Max struggled valiantly against Ben's grasp on her throat. She dug her nails into the undersides of his wrists, drawing blood. He held on. She drew her leg up, planting one foot in his chest. Ben's fingers slipped from her neck as he stumbled back. Max coughed violently. "Alec!" she cried out, her voice little more than a hoarse whisper.   
  
Ben righted himself and came at Max again. "494 can't help you. I already took care of that."  
  
Max's eyes widened reflexively. "Alec….." she whispered to herself. "You.. . .?" She let the thought trail, glaring at Ben expectantly, waiting for some confirmation or denial of what she thought.   
  
He grinned. "No, he's alive, for now. Though I'm sure Zack and Jondy are taking care of that for me right now, which leaves me plenty of time to deal with you. Then, when they get back," he took a pistol from its holster and set it on the stand just behind him. "I'll be waiting."  
  
Max's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, her mouth thinned. As Ben turned back from the table she leapt from the bed, launching herself at her brother. A sharp stab of pain leapt up her back, and her punch lacked the force it usually held. Ben seemed more surprised by the attack then anything, and he quickly laid Max out on the floor, flipping her over his hip. She landed on her back, barely biting back a cry of anguish. "That was stupid." Ben sneered. He planted the toe of his boot in her midsection. Max dry heaved, clutching her stomach.  
  
Ben raised his foot, readying himself to crush her neck. Then, from behind them, was the sounding of shattering glass. The window exploded, and a dark form flew through. IN one fluid motion Alec had leapt through the glass, rolling on impact and leapt to his feet, charging Ben. He kept his head low, blurring forward and catching his twin around the midsection. The two flew back, crashing into the small table. The wood splintered and broke underneath Ben and Alec's combined weight. The gun skittered on the floor and the lamp smashed on impact. Alec hit the wood on both knees, gritting his teeth. Ben smashed the heel of his palm into Alec's chin, and rolled out from underneath his double.   
  
Ben jumped to his feet, wheeling quickly to hit Alec with a roundkick. Alec, face cold and filled with unadulterated hate, was ready. He grabbed Ben's ankle, twisting it. 493 spun, barely keeping his feet. Alec got up. He drove forward, smashing his fists into Ben so fast even Max could barely keep the blows straight. He drove his twin back against the wall, driving his forearm against Ben's throat.  
  
"Give me one good reason not to crush your damn throat!" The veins in Alec's throat throbbed. His jaw clenched spasmodically. His hands were still clenched in fists, knuckles bone white. Ben sneered, and attempted to push back and get away. Alec threw him bodily into the wall, and Ben began to wheeze. "Tell me."  
  
"I'm your brother," Ben coughed weakly. His sly, sadistic grin returned. "Must be like some kind of hell for you."  
  
"Been there, done that. It's overrated. And as for being my brother? That's bullshit. Think of a better reason," he told him through gritted teeth.  
  
"I'm…..I'm Max's brother." Alec's jaw softened slightly, his eyes traveling to where she still sat on the floor. She was half propped against the cot, one hand pressed to her bleeding forehead.  
  
The door to the cabin burst open. Zack rushed inside, Jondy on his heels. The whole thing took but a moment. Alec's head snapped around. Ben used the opportunity to his full advantage. He drove his heel into Alec's already injured knee, forcing the other transgenic to one knee. "It's Ben!" he yelled, rolling away from the wall. "He has a gun."  
  
Alec spun completely around, eyes wide as he watched Zack level the rifle in his direction. Ben darted toward where his pistol had fallen on the floor. Max screamed. "No!!!!" Jondy froze at the sight of the twins, her gaze sweeping from Max, to Alec, to the rifle. She slammed into Zack, driving into him wither her shoulder. Zack fired, and Alec hit the wall. Ben blurred for the door and into the night. Max screamed.  
  
The .22 caliber bullet tore straight through Alec's heavily muscled bicep and imbedded itself in the wall. His back hit the wall, knees bent. Alec clutched at his arm, bright blood seeping through his fingers. With a growl Zack shoved Jondy away and recocked the rifle. He lifted the rifle to his shoulder, aiming it directly at Alec's head. Blue and hazel eyes bored into one another, smoldering with ill concealed hate.   
  
"Zack don't! That's Alec, Alec! He was trying to help," she cried out hoarsely. The elder transgenic didn't seem to hear, his finger tightening around the trigger.   
  
JOndy growled, brow furrowing. She drew herself up, fists clenched and stormed over to Zack. "Enough!" she barked. IN one fluid movement Jondy planted the heel of her boot into the hollow of Zack's knee and struck him hard across the jaw. She reached one foot out around him then, grasping the barrel of the rifle. She swung Zack tidily over her hip, ripping the weapon from his hands. He seemed mildly surprised to be on the floor on his back with Jondy's foot planted on his sternum.   
  
"Jondy….."  
  
"No."  
  
"But. . ."  
  
"No! Do you hear me? No more guns for Zack. You heard Max. That, on the floor there, that's Alex."  
  
"Alec. . ." Zack corrected her.  
  
"Whatever. Alec. Not that I have any idea what that has to do with anything. I'm confused. I don't like to be confused, and I get the feeling that nothing is going to be resolved if you get trigger happy as hell on his ass. So I stand by my original sentiment of no, no more guns for Zack!"  
  
Alec laughed gleefully at the sight of Jondy and Zack. "Oh, you are so whipped."  
  
"Shut up Alec," Max grunted with a roll of her eyes. Alec's mouth shut with an audible snap.  
  
"Yeah," Zack chuckled as Jondy allowed him to get up, "you too."  
  
Jondy let out a derisive grunt and went over to Max. She guided her younger "sister" back to the small bed. "Seriously though Maxie, what the hell is going on?"  
  
"It's Ben," Max began, squeezing her eyes shut. Her voice remained level, but Alec knew her well enough to hear the hurt behind the words. She opened her eyes, the dark orbs locked on Alec's face. He shifted uncomfortably, feeling, and not for the first time since he'd known her, like she wasn't looking at him at all. She ducked her head, tearing her gaze off him. "Manticore got him back." She didn't bother to explain her part in it, or the fact that he had been dead at the time. It would take too much time, and put too many people through too much heartache, least of all herself. "They put him through Reindoctrination, Psych Ops."  
  
She didn't even have to watch Alec to know his reaction to those words. A lone, tiny muscle in his jaw twitched almost imperceptibly. "He said he had been sick, and they cured him. They cured him, and made him a good soldier again and gave him a new mission."  
  
"Do I really want to know?" Jondy questioned.  
  
"His mission was to locate and apprehend the '09 escapees by any force necessary."  
  
"Doesn't he know Manticore's gone?" Zack asked. "There's no Manticore, there's no mission."  
  
"When I blew up the facility the mission objectives changed. Termination. He's out to exterminate all of us. That's where the surveillance photos came from Zack, the threat on Jondy. He damn near killed Alec setting off an avalanche and he shot me in the back. He's been hunting us, herding us here since moment one."  
  
Jondy let out a long breath and Zack swore. "Can I have the gun back now?" Jondy handed him the rifle wordlessly. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and sheathed a long bladed knife. He stuffed another package of bullets into a small satchel on his belt.   
  
"where are you going?" Jondy asked as he reached the door.  
  
"It's time the hunter became the hunted." Max opened her mouth to protest, but Zack held up a hand to silence her. "I'm not happy about this either Maxie. I know it's Ben. But if it's gonna come down to him or us, I choose us. But I'll give him every opportunity, I promise." He smiled grimly and was out the door.  
  
"I'm going too," Alec declared. "Jondy, stay here and keep Max out of trouble. You," he pointed an accusing finger at Max, "just. . . stay."  
  
Jondy grabbed his good arm before he could take a step. "Let me wrap your arm first at least. It'll take a minute I swear." He hesitated for a moment, then consented with a nod. He stayed standing as she packed the wound and wrapped it with gauze. Ice blue eyes examined him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You really do look a lot like him, you know?" Jondy told him almost sadly. She cocked her head to the right and smiled poignantly. "And you really don't."   
  
She handed him her pistol and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't get your ass blown off huh? I'm almost out of gauze."  
  
He chuckled and looked over at Max. "I like her." He tried to grin, but her face wouldn't let him. He could almost sense her disappointment. "I won't kill him unless I have to." Part of him wanted to go over to the bed and kiss her again, but the better half of him said it was a bad idea. So they stood, in awkward silence for the better part of a minute. He moved for the door.  
  
"Alec." He paused, waiting for, something. "Keep your head up." The smallest flicker of a smile glided over his face, then he was gone.  
  
--  
  
End Chapter 9  
  
Ok, I know I said this was going to be the last chapter and all, but I feel really bad about letting this go so long without updating I figured I'd give you what I have and hurry up on the last chapter. Hope you enjoy. 


	10. 10

Chapter 10:  
  
A/N: I don't think this could have come any later than this, for which I apologize. Hope you still read and enjoy.  
  
Disclaimer: Still in college, still poor, still don't own em.  
  
~*~  
  
Alec's eyes flickered warily around him, searching deep into the dark shadows of the forest. He kept the pistol low, muzzle pointed toward the ground. He moved cattily, picking his way across the blanket of pine needles. His ears were trained for the slightest noise that was out of place, but all he could hear was the sound of his own breathing. This, in his mind, was not a good sign. It meant Zack and Ben were already fairly far ahead of him, or that perhaps he had tracked them the wrong way into the pine groves.   
  
Alec's face was hard, mouth set into a grim line. He would have killed her. The image was there, playing at the forefront of his mind, his double kicking her, moving to kill her, Max. If everything Ben had meant to Alex before hadn't been enough, this made it so. He knew he'd told Max he'd try not to kill Ben unless he had to, but he yearned for blood. He wasn't going to capture, he was doing as he had been trained, going for the kill.   
  
Ben had ruined his life at Manticore, condemning him to a slow hellish death in Psych Ops, making Alec doubt his own mind. Then he'd met Max, and his 'brother' had screwed him again. The only thing Max saw looking at Alec was a piss poor substitute for her brother, he was sure of it. Then he'd tried to kill her, and that was the final straw.  
  
His contempt raged, welling into a ball in his stomach, prickling an already itchy trigger finger. He'd never felt such hate before in his life, such a burning desire to see life extinguished. Something in the back of Alec's mind cried out to be heard, but it was dim, distant. The cracking of a branch to his left, faint as it was, sounded like a gunshot to him. Eyes narrowing, Alec headed in the direction of the sound.  
  
--  
  
Back at the cabin Jondy and Max sat quietly. Max had returned to bed, and she was staring at her hands. Jondy sat on a chair, trading glances between the window and her sister. Finally, after ten minutes or so of silence, Jondy spoke.  
  
"So, you uh, feel like telling me what's up?"  
  
Max kept her eyes riveted down on her blanket. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"You and Alec," she said bluntly.  
  
"There's nothing up with me and Alec. He's Alec. He's selfish and underhanded. He's just there, all the time, annoying and...and..." she trailed off. "He's nothing like Logan," she finished weakly.  
  
Jondy nodded, eyebrows raised. "Course not. He's just here, with you, when he doesn't have to be. He came hundreds of miles, trekked up a mountain, got attacked, got shot, and he's still here Max. That says something."  
  
"I love Logan."  
  
"That really isn't my point Max."  
  
"If he kills Ben..." Max uttered darkly. "I don't know if I can forgive him."  
  
Jondy's face softened. "He may kill the man that was in this room tonight, but Max, you know that wasn't Ben. Not our Ben. He's dead. And no matter what you think about Alec, there's no way this'll be easy on him. He's gonna need a friend if all this goes down like I think it will. I know it hurts, but we can't get Ben back, no matter what happens, he's gone."  
  
"That's easy for you to say," Max spat out.  
  
Jondy's throat tightened. "No it's not Max. He was my brother too. But I looked that guy in the eyes tonight and Ben's not there. Our Ben died the moment Manticore got him back."  
  
Max bit down on her lip. Her eyes stung with unshed tears. "It's my fault."  
  
Jondy moved to sit on the bed with her little sister. "Max it's no one's fault. You're the one who brought Manticore down in the first place."  
  
"It is my fault," she insisted as the first of her tears slipped down her cheek. "It's my fault because I'm the one that left him for Manticore in the first place. I already killed him once Jondy I don't know if I can lose him again."   
  
The elder transgenic's eyes shot wide. "What are you talking about?" She laid a gentle hand on Max's shoulder. And with that, Max spilled the entire story, from the teeth, to the woods, even telling him a story just before snapping his neck. Jondy listened in stone silence, holding her weeping sister in her arms.  
  
--  
  
Alec entered the clearing. Ben stood in the middle, chest heaving, blood pouring from a wound in his head. His eyes seemed to burn red with hate and rage. Astounded, Alec saw Zack lying motionless on the grass by Ben's feet. Only his superior vision let Alec know that the blonde transgenic was still breathing. Zack's gun lay on the earth a few feet to Ben's right. Moonlight glinted off the edge of the knife Ben held in his hands.  
  
"Drop it," Alec demanded, his voice steely. Ben complied meekly, opening his palm, letting the blade fall tip first into the earth. His twin kept his hands up away from his body.  
  
"You gonna shoot me?"  
  
Alec swallowed hard as he stared into his own eyes. "Not unless you make me." He fisted the handle of his pistol uneasily. Alec recognized the man in the middle of the clearing. Not so much for being Ben, for 493, or even for Max's memories of him, but for recognition of what he found in the other man's eyes. Alec recognized himself.  
  
He felt a pull at his gut when he realized that Ben was where Alec had been not too long before. There was no will to live left in the gaze that met his, no individual life, just the soldier, just Manticore. A rush of sympathetic understanding suddenly struck Alec, for just as he knew the lifeless eyes, he knew what had made them that way. He knew what Manticore had done to him. This man he'd grown up hating, the man whose accursed face kept him from Max, he was Alec.  
  
Ben saw Alec lose his focus, the tip of his gun waiver slightly. He mouth pulled into a sneer, and he reached his hand slowly behind his back. His fingers closed around the backup pistol he'd kept there. Alec caught the movement. "Don't..." he started to cry a warning as Ben pulled the weapon out. He never finished, he merely reacted, firing quickly.   
  
Ben cried out, dropping to one knee as the bullet ripped through his shoulder. Eyes blazing he aimed the gun again. Feeling sick, Alec fired, this time leaving a wound in his twin's forearm, forcing him to drop the gun. "Stay down," Alec told him quietly.  
  
"My mission is incomplete," Ben answered robotically.  
  
"Your mission is pointless. It's over Ben, you have to let it go. Don't you remember life before going back? Life with Max, Zack and the others?"  
  
"I remember being abandoned. I remember being a child and being all alone. They ran from our home, from our destiny, and they deserve to die."  
  
"No they don't." Even as he said the words, Alec knew there would be no reasoning with him.  
  
"They will die. And you're in my way, so you die first." Ben rose from his knee, stalking purposefully toward Alec. "Just think what shooting me will do to Max. She'll never talk to you after this." He pace quickened.  
  
Alec shook his head, taking a few steps back. "Stay there Ben. I'll do it." Ben broke into a run, rushing headlong at his transgenic clone. He was too close, there was nothing left to do. For the first time in his life, Alec closed his eyes when he pulled the trigger. He jerked when he felt blood splatter his face and jacket. There was a dull thud as Ben struck the ground. Alec's chin fell to his chest, the gun dangling by his fingertips. He stood there for a long time, staring at the figure on the ground. He blinked, put the gun in his belt and went to check on Zack.  
  
--  
  
Jondy felt her heart race when she saw two figures heading back for the cabin, walking side by side. She flung open the door for them. Zack came in first, walking slowly, clutching his side. Max jumped out of bed. Her elder brother bore a deep, but not terrible knife wound in his side. His head bled freely, grazed by one of Ben's bullets. He sat heavily in a chair.  
  
Alec entered the cabin and Max felt her heart soar and shatter in the same moment. The right side of Alec's face was smattered with blood not his own. His face was drawn, eyes dull. He carried Ben in his arms, drenched in blood and barely recognizable. Alec set his twin down on the bed, turned and left the cabin without a word. max went to follow, but Zack grabbed her arm, halting her. "Let him be Max, let him be."  
  
They buried Ben the next morning, in a grove overlooking the river. Jondy dug the grave, Zack and Max watching over the body that they'd wrapped in linens. Alec stood apart from everyone, feeling somehow awkward in the familial moment.  
  
Sunlight split through the bows of the trees, casting a long arc on the overturned earth. A few yards farther on the ground dropped away, and the river rushed underneath. Max nodded. "This is a good place Ben," she smiled, tears welling in her eyes. "Maybe the Good Place, surrounded by your family."  
  
Alec helped Jondy lower Ben's body in the grave before retreating once again. Jondy leaned over, saying her good-byes in private before climbing back out. Zack approached, casting a handful of dirt onto his brother's form. "Rest well brother." It wasn't much, but from Zack, it was enough.  
  
Max came up and whispered her own memorial. "I'm sorry Benny. I wish...I wish things had been different. I wish you could have seen what I see when I look out on the world. Maybe this is better. I just hope you're happy now." Then they buried him, marking his final resting space with a small pile of rocks.   
  
--  
  
Alec was in his apartment, rummaging through a box a week and a half later. He and Max had descended the mountain together, barely speaking. When they'd arrived back at the ranch, Jondy's boss had been surprised to say the least. He'd said he'd figured them for lost when his horses had returned without them. Max mumbled a weak explanation that she was sure didn't hold water, but didn't much care. They'd separated as soon as they'd reached Seattle city limits, Alec back to his apartment, Max to Logan he was sure.   
  
His apartment had been broken into while he was away. SO he'd spent most of the next few days cleaning up, and making plans to acquire some new furniture and the like. Normal had given him time off when he'd shown up to Jam Pony looking like he'd taken on a semi and lost. It suited him fine, it gave him time to heal as well as an excuse to avoid Max.  
  
Alec knew she was there before she even knocked. "Hey," she greeted him quietly. Alec ducked his head lower, hands tightly gripping the cardboard box.  
  
"hey," he replied evenly, not turning. This was the first time they'd been in the same room since returning from Colorado. "Staying for a while?"  
  
"No, I just came to see how you are. I actually have to go meet..." her voice trailed off.  
  
He smiled ironically. "Logan."  
  
"Logan," she affirmed. "How's the arm?"  
  
"It'll heal," he answered dully.  
  
There was an awkward moment of silence. Then she asked the question she'd been dreading. "How are you?"  
  
He turned, slowly, shoulders hunched forward. He lifted his chin, leveling her gaze with a solemn hazel stare. His jaw worked from side to side as he formulated a response. "I never thought it would be so hard," he told her truthfully. He didn't exactly want to rehash everything again in his mind, especially not with her, but he needed to.  
  
He gathered himself, willing to speak what he had not yet dared admit. "I've hated him for so long Max. I hated him for what they did, because he was weak. And all that, so many years and still, I almost couldn't do it. He went for his gun and I shot him, twice. I told him to stay down. He came at me. You know I looked him right in the eyes and I didn't see Ben. it was just the good solider Max, it was me."  
  
She bit hard on her lip as her heart tore itself apart. "I was staring right into myself. And all I could think was why wasn't it me? It's been running through my head for a week and I still don't know the answer. We're the same, so why did he lose it and not me? or has it just not happened yet?"  
  
Max crossed the space between them in two strides. "You are not the same," she told him firmly. "Genetics only go so far."  
  
Alec wasn't comforted by her assurances. "And I wonder, wouldn't it be ironic if the thing that kept me sane was the thing Ben most wanted to escape? Was it Manticore? A good soldier relishes the kill Max, I know. And that was him up in those woods, but it easily could have been me. That's what I was thinking when he came at me. It was like killing a part of myself, and knowing that I had to do it, even though it was so hard."  
  
His voice sounded hollow, more lifeless than she had ever even imagined. "I killed him because of what I used to be, what I still am. We're the same."  
  
"No," she shook her head vehemently. "The man you killed up there wasn't you, any more than that was Ben. I realized that. Alec you never met Ben, he died a long time ago." She lay one hand upon his cheek.   
  
Alec closed his eyes, laying his hand atop hers. "I'm sorry I'm some guy walking around with Ben's face."  
  
"Alec," she said, waiting for him to look her in the eye. "You don't have Ben's face, and you're not just some guy. And you know what else?" Alec blinked. "I think maybe the best tribute to Ben's memory there could be is standing right in front of me."  
  
He shook his head. "What?"  
  
"SO much of loved in Ben I see in you Alec. You're always there when I need you. You make me smile, just like he did. You make it safe. I think the best parts of Ben that died, were resurrected in you." he rested his forehead against hers.  
  
His eyes searched her face. He cupped her chin in his other hand, and lifted his lips to hers, kissing her lightly. He pulled away, hesitant. Max let out a long breath and kissed him, sliding her hand from his cheek, down his neck to his chest. He deepened the kiss, pulling her closer. He needed her. Then suddenly she pulled back, holding him at arms length. her voice was pained. "I can't." Alec felt a heavy weight sink on his shoulders.  
  
"I know." He grasped her hands, removing them from his chest.  
  
"He's a good man," she started, as if to convince both of them. Then she stopped. "I do love him."  
  
Alec tried to ignore the sharp pang he felt at those words. He nodded, not looking at her. "I know." She smiled sadly, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. She turned on her heel, moving for the door. Logan was waiting.  
  
She had her hand on the door handle and was halfway out of the apartment. "Max?" She didn't answer, just paused in the doorway.  
  
"I know you could probably list a hundred good reasons for you to leave right now. And for the life of me I can't think of one good one for you to stay........." Max held her breath, waiting. "Stay anyway." Her eyes shut and she clenched her jaw, feeling her chest tighten. Then she took a settling breath and turned back into the apartment, closing the door behind her.  
  
The End  
  
Okay, did I make you wait forever or what? I'm sorry for that really. But please, tell me what you think of this ending. I wrote the whole story around this scene. 


End file.
